China announced new punitive measures against a company owned by the father of Taiwanese lawmaker Puma Shen on Oct. 14, extending a campaign against the outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Shen had previously been sanctioned and doxxed by Beijing due to his advocacy for Taiwanese sovereignty and political autonomy in the face of China’s threats of forced “reunification.” Shen is also currently running for mayor of Taipei in next month’s local elections.
Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, announced the measures, saying that the regime would impose sanctions on VWAY, a company owned by Shen’s father, Shen Tu-cheng. The measures prohibit the company from conducting transactions or cooperating with Chinese organizations, businesses, and individuals.
In June 2025, Beijing imposed similar measures on Sicuens International Co. Ltd., another company headed by Shen’s father.
Responding to the announcement, Shen said he had already been sanctioned and placed on a wanted list by the CCP. He said he would wait to see what new measures Beijing could introduce.
“The things they could have done, it feels like they’ve already done quite a lot,” Shen said, adding that he was curious to see “what new dish they can serve up today.”
Shen made the remarks to the press before appearing on radio program “Shao Kang’s War Room” on Oct. 14. He was also asked about a report published the previous day by pro-Beijing Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Po, which alleged that his father’s company had secretly profited from doing business with Chinese firms after being sanctioned by Beijing.
Shen rejected the report as false, saying the allegations were not new and had been repeatedly addressed. He said his family’s business dealings had been with Ecuador, but that the reporting had portrayed the family as if it were involved in business in China.
He said the allegations had been recycled from claims that had circulated since 2024 and that the public could judge the repeated reporting for itself.
The latest sanctions announcement comes amid a separate investigation into the surveillance of Shen and his family in Taiwan, which prosecutors have described as part of a broader pattern of transnational repression targeting people who criticize Beijing, according to Taiwan’s national news agency CNA.
On Oct. 7, Shen reported to Taipei police that someone had been monitoring his home. An investigation directed by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office subsequently found that four Taiwanese private investigators had allegedly been hired in 2024 by two Hong Kong residents, Kuk Kok Yin and Lam Hing, to conduct round-the-clock surveillance of Shen, his wife, and their daughter.
According to prosecutors, the investigators allegedly received HK$99,950 ($12,700) for the assignment.
Prosecutors said the case reflected a broader pattern in which people in Taiwan who express views critical of the CCP have faced physical attacks, economic pressure, and surveillance of their personal and social activities.
They described such actions as a form of transnational repression intended to target people who express dissenting views.
The Taipei District Prosecutors Office charged the four Taiwanese investigators for alleged violations of Taiwan’s Personal Data Protection Act. Prosecutors also issued arrest warrants for the two Hong Kong handlers.
Zhong Yuan contributed to this report.
