The Democratic Progressive Party's smearing of the mainland's lawful punishment of "Taiwan independence" diehards is aimed at obstructing cross-Strait exchanges, said Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the websites of the office and the Ministry of Public Security launched new sections on the lawful punishment of die-hard "Taiwan independence" separatists, and announced the tip-off mailbox for the gathering of information on the 10 listed separatists' criminal activities and clues on any new die-hard "Taiwan independence" separatists suspected of serious offenses.

The DPP authorities claimed that the mainland's relevant measures create more obstacles and harm to cross-strait exchanges and interactions.

Zhu stated that lawfully punishing "Taiwan independence" diehards who split the country and incite crimes of splitting the country is a just act to defend national sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity.

People on both sides of the Strait strongly support the measures to lawfully punish "Taiwan independence" activities, believing that the precise crackdown on "Taiwan independence" diehards is effective, she said.

They also fully recognize that the lawful punishment targets only a tiny number of diehards who engage in malicious "Taiwan independence" activities, incite crimes of splitting the country, and does not involve the vast majority of Taiwan compatriots, she said.

"The DPP authorities deliberately conflate the vast majority of Taiwan compatriots with a tiny number of 'Taiwan independence' diehards, attempting to use innocent people as shields for 'Taiwan independence' and trying to obstruct cross-strait exchanges by smearing the mainland," she said.

Zhu said that an increasing number of Taiwan compatriots have seen through the sinister intentions and deceitful tactics of the DPP authorities, demonstrating a strong desire to participate in cross-Strait exchanges and actively support the development of cross-Strait relations.

From January to June this year, there were nearly 2.1 million cross-Strait visits, a year-on-year increase of 99.5 percent. Among them, nearly 2 million visits were made by Taiwan compatriots, a 103.2 percent increase compared to the previous year, indicating that the trend of cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation would not be swayed by the lies and deceit of the DPP authorities and "Taiwan independence" forces, she said.