Taiwan confirms police detained in China, criticizes media

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has confirmed that two Taiwanese police officers, one currently serving and one retired, were detained and interrogated by Chinese security forces during a trip to Fujian province. The incident occurred after the officers checked into a guesthouse on June 24th, where they were held for six hours by six to seven Chinese national security agents.

The MAC used the event to reiterate warnings about the risks Taiwanese citizens face when traveling to China. The council stated that such detentions of Taiwanese judicial police personnel by Chinese intelligence systems are not isolated incidents, citing previous cases involving officers from various agencies including the Investigation Bureau, National Police Agency, Immigration Agency, and Coast Guard Administration.

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The reports use irresponsible generalizations like 'grassroots police officers' and include baseless accusations like 'two police officers must have engaged in abnormal behavior first to be interrogated.' This is a typical method of smearing whistleblowers to shift focus.

Responding to media reports that questioned the authenticity of the incident, the MAC strongly criticized the framing. The council labeled the reports, which suggested the officers might have engaged in "abnormal behavior" leading to the interrogation, as a typical tactic to "throw mud at whistleblowers" and divert attention. The MAC accused such reporting of aiding China's cognitive warfare by echoing Beijing's claims that Taiwan's government is fabricating stories to instill fear and that individuals face no issues if they do not break the law.

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Such accusations, like 'if I haven't encountered it, it's fake news' or 'the person involved must have done something illegal to be targeted,' align perfectly with the statements from Taiwan Affairs Office spokespersons.