China sanctions Reagan library, others in retaliation for Tsai's US trip

China is imposing sanctions against the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and other US and Asianbased organisations in retaliation for the closely watched meeting this week between the US House Speaker and Taiwans presidentThe Reagan library was the site of the rare highlevel bipartisan meeting Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted this week for talks with Taiwanese President Tsai IngwenThe meeting came as USChina relations have sunk to historic lows and as tensions between Taiwan and China have risen China views any official exchanges between foreign governments and Taiwan as an attempt to raise Taipeis global status and thus an infringement on Beijings claims of sovereignty over the islandChina had vowed countermeasures against Taipei for its interactions with the USWe will take resolute measures to punish the Taiwan independence separatist forces and their actions and resolutely safeguard our countrys sovereignty and territorial integrity Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement Thursday referring to Tsai and her political party as separatistsIn addition the Prospect Foundation and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats both in Asia were being sanctioned for their involvement in promoting Taiwan independence under the guise of academic and research exchanges Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian saidChinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Hudson Institute think tank and the Reagan library were sanctioned for providing a platform and convenience to Taiwan separatist activitiesFour individuals in leadership roles with the organisations also were named Sarah May Stern chair of the board of directors of Hudson Institute John P Walters director of the Hudson Institute John Heubusch former executive director of the Reagan Foundation Joanne M Drake chief administrative officer of the Reagan Foundation China said any property or financial assets belonging to them in China would be frozenAlso read China vows lsquoforcefulrsquo measures after USTaiwan meetingTsai had accepted a leadership award from the Hudson Institute as part of her trip to the US and also given a speech about Taiwans challenges in regional securityThe sanctions effectively are a travel ban on the individuals in charge of the organizations Theyre also banned from working with Chinese organizationsThe Prospect Foundation is a Taiwanese think tank that works on dialogue and cooperation on issues related to Taiwans security economy and social development The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats is a regional organization established in Thailand that promotes exchanges among liberal and democratic political parties in Asia Taiwans Democratic Progressive Party is a memberSeparately the Taiwan Affairs Office also announced further sanctions on Hsiao BiKhim Taiwans representative in the US The ban on Hsiao does not appear to be substantively different from the ban enacted on her last August when thenHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan China then announced sanctions on a list of individuals from the DPP and ruling administration including HsiaoThen it banned the individuals their family members and related organisations from traveling or operating in China including Hong Kong Fridays announcement said any financial sponsors of Hsiao are also includedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever