Taiwan raised its warning level for travel to mainland China on Thursday, urging citizens to avoid all but essential trips to the country, after Beijing unveiled possible punishments for so-called “Taiwan independence diehards” – including the death penalty in extreme cases.

China considers Taiwan, a democratically governed island of 23 million people about 160 kilometers from the Chinese coast, its own territory, demands that it eventually accept reunification and has long condemned Taiwanese who oppose Chinese sovereignty over the island.

Last week, China stepped up the pressure by releasingLegal guidelinesThe announcement, released on Wednesday, details possible steps China could take to punish supporters of Taiwan’s autonomy. It comes amid growing tensions between U.S.-backed Taiwan and China. Last month, new Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te was sworn in, vowing to uphold Taiwan’s democratic system, drawing condemnation from Beijing.

China has authorized the death penalty for so-called particularly serious cases of Taiwanese separatism through new regulations, although the regulations do not specify what actions could constitute serious crimes.

AsResponseThe Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan, which is responsible for mainland policy, said that Beijing’s “willful and unilateral actions” on the Taiwan issue “further increased the personal safety risks of Taiwanese citizens traveling to the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau.”

New President Lai Ching-te criticized the new rules. “China has no right to sanction Taiwanese people because of their political views, nor does it have the right to prosecute them across borders,” he said earlier this week.He said on social media. “Democracy is not a crime; despotism is the real evil.”

Lai called for dialogue with China and stopped short of calling for Taiwanese independence, saying he wanted to maintain the status quo with Taiwan enjoying autonomy.

Beijing, however, has denounced Lai, declaring him a separatist, and has greeted his new government with inflammatory rhetoric and a series of military exercises near the island of Taiwan.

Despite Beijing’s escalating confrontations and military displays of strength, many Taiwanese appear to remain optimistic.A recent pollThe survey showed that most people on the island believed the United States would intervene if China invaded, but some questioned whether Washington and the Taiwanese government were unnecessarily angering Beijing.

Beijing has detained people with ties to Taiwan in the past.

In 2023, Li Yanhe, a Chinese citizen living in Taiwan, was charged with endangering national security for publishing a book critical of the Chinese Communist Party. In 2022, democracy advocate Lee Ming-che was released from prison in China after serving five years on charges of subverting the government.

As relations with the mainland become increasingly distant, Taiwanese people have also shown a tendency to travelGenerational differencesA 2023 poll showed that Taiwanese tourists over 40 were more likely to go to China than younger tourists, who were more likely to go to Japan.