China Police Detain Man For Asking Why Taiwan Can't Be Called A Country

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

Reuters
Staff Aug 17, 2018

[excerpt]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-taiwan-internet/china-police-detain-man-for-asking-why-cant-taiwan-be-called-a-country-idUSKBN1L210O

BEIJING (Reuters) - Police in China have detained a man who asked on social media what law prevented anyone calling self-ruled Taiwan a country, questioning a fundamental principle of China’s sovereignty.

Beijing views the democratic island as merely a wayward province and it has stepped up a campaign against the island as it tries to assert Chinese sovereignty.

Police in the northeastern city of Maanshan said an 18-year-old unemployed man, identified by the family name Yang, had used his Weibo social media account to post questions on a police Weibo including: “What law says you can’t call Taiwan a country?”.