Taiwan leader says China 'has no right to punish' island

Democracy is not a crime and autocracy is the real "evil", Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said after China threatened to impose the death penalty in extreme cases for "diehard" Taiwan independence separatists.

China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has made no secret of its dislike of President Lai, who took office last month, saying he is a "separatist", and staged war games shortly after his inauguration.

On Friday, China ramped up its pressure on Taiwan by issuing new legal guidelines to punish those it says support the island's formal independence, though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction on the democratically governed island.