China will hold people who support Taiwan's independence criminally liable for life. This is the first time that China has spelled out specific punishment for people deemed to be pro-Taiwan independence as tensions rise between the mainland and the self-ruled island China claims as its own. Beijing views Taiwan, which split from mainland China amid civil war in 1949, as a Chinese province. China has increasingly mobilized military, diplomatic and economic pressure to undermine Taiwan while threatening to bring the island under Chinese Communist Party control. Officials are keeping track of people who are "stubbornly pro-Taiwan independence" and made public for the first time that it has drawn up a list of people who fall into this category. China will enforce punishment on the people on the list by not letting them enter the mainland and regions of Hong Kong and Macau. The blacklisted people will not be allowed to cooperate with entities or people from the mainland, nor will their companies be allowed to profit from the mainland. Many Taiwanese companies derive profits from doing business with the mainland. Tens of thousands of Taiwanese currently work in the mainland. China will also take "any other necessary measures" against these people. The message China wants to send to supporters of Taiwan independence is that those who forget their ancestors, betray the motherland, and split the country, will never end up well and will be spurned by the people and judged by history.