TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwanese traveling to China should be careful about their actions, including what they take pictures of, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said Friday (Aug. 23).

SEF Secretary General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) reminded Taiwanese living and working in China but also tourists that its communist government had been tightening security measures. Beijing’s arbitrary application of laws was leading to growing uncertainty and higher risks, he said.

Luo said that even travelers on a short visit to China should be cautious, Radio Taiwan International reported. They should avoid taking pictures of potentially sensitive public installations or buildings, he said.

The SEF said it had noticed that security authorities in Fujian Province had changed their attitude toward the virtual private networks (VPN) used by Chinese citizens to access overseas websites. In the past, Fujian allowed the practice, but recently, it had imposed fines, even for the use of VPNs four years earlier, according to Luo.

He named the publication of “22 Guidelines” by China in June targeting what it said were supporters of Taiwan independence. The threats of measures were vague, harsh, and arbitrary, Luo said.