(CNN) Editor's note: J. Michael Cole is a Taipei-based senior non-resident fellow with the University of Nottingham's China Policy Institute and editor-in-chief of Thinking-Taiwan.com -- which is affiliated with an organization founded by Taiwan President-elect Tsai Ing-wen. The views expressed are his own.

The ongoing crisis over the deportation by Kenyan authorities of 45 Taiwanese nationals to China has sparked consternation in Taipei and accusations of international kidnapping worldwide.

Besides the fact that the individuals were cleared of all crimes by a Kenyan court, their extradition to China, ostensibly due to pressure from Chinese officials, raises essential questions about the future implications of the "one China" policy in a time of greater Chinese assertiveness.

China's extraterritorial reach worldwide is also cause for apprehension among Taiwanese, Uyghur, Tibetan and Hong Kong activists who now live and travel under the shadow of possible capture and extradition to China for any "crimes" as defined by Beijing's intentionally vague National Security Law.

A 16-year-old student, Bao fled China after the detention of his parents in a government crackdown on human rights lawyers. Amnesty International says he and his traveling companions were picked up in the Myanmar border town of Mong La on October 6 and returned to China. Rights groups say he is now under house arrest at his grandparents' house in Inner Mongolia. Chinese state media denied reports the boy has been threatened or harassed and said he is enrolled in local school.

Bao Zhuoxuan – A 16-year-old student, Bao fled China after the detention of his parents in a government crackdown on human rights lawyers. Amnesty International says he and his traveling companions were picked up in the Myanmar border town of Mong La on October 6 and returned to China. Rights groups say he is now under house arrest at his grandparents' house in Inner Mongolia. Chinese state media denied reports the boy has been threatened or harassed and said he is enrolled in local school.

A political cartoonist and leader in the Chinese dissident community in Thailand, Jiang Yefei, right, was arrested alongside Dong Guangping in Bangkok and sent to China. Amnesty International says he fled China after being detained and tortured because of his criticism of the government's response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. He appeared imprisoned on Chinese state television in November, asking for "lenient treatment."

Jiang Yefei – A political cartoonist and leader in the Chinese dissident community in Thailand, Jiang Yefei, right, was arrested alongside Dong Guangping in Bangkok and sent to China. Amnesty International says he fled China after being detained and tortured because of his criticism of the government's response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. He appeared imprisoned on Chinese state television in November, asking for "lenient treatment."

A former Chinese police officer, Dong was arrested several times for participating in pro-democracy protests. He fled to Thailand with his family in 2015 seeking safety from Chinese authorities and a better life for his daughter, according to his wife Gu Shuhua. Despite UN recognition as a refugee, the Thai authorities arrested him in October for an immigration violation. Gu says her husband's immigration fine was paid by the Chinese government who then took him back to China. Since his arrest in Bangkok, she says her only contact with Dong has been seeing him in police custody on Chinese state television.

Dong Guangping – A former Chinese police officer, Dong was arrested several times for participating in pro-democracy protests. He fled to Thailand with his family in 2015 seeking safety from Chinese authorities and a better life for his daughter, according to his wife Gu Shuhua. Despite UN recognition as a refugee, the Thai authorities arrested him in October for an immigration violation. Gu says her husband's immigration fine was paid by the Chinese government who then took him back to China. Since his arrest in Bangkok, she says her only contact with Dong has been seeing him in police custody on Chinese state television.

The former editor of a prominent Chinese newspaper, Li said he was pressured by local authorities to spy on human rights advocates and NGOs. He tried to seek asylum in India and then Thailand. After speaking to his wife from a train near the Thai-Laos border on January 11, he disappeared for more than three weeks. His wife told CNN the two next spoke on the phone on February 3. Li refused to disclose his location and told her he "voluntarily came back to China to accept an investigation."

Gui Minhai's business partner, Lee Bo was last seen on December 30 near his company's warehouse in Hong Kong. Hong Kong police have since confirmed he is in mainland China. Lee's disappearance sparked demonstrations in Hong Kong, where protestors believe his arrest was a violation of the former colony's autonomy. Lee and Gui's supporters say Mighty Current was working on a book about the love affairs of Chinese President Xi Jinping. UK authorities say they are "deeply concerned" about the possible detention of Lee, a British passport holder, and his colleagues.

Lee Bo – Gui Minhai's business partner, Lee Bo was last seen on December 30 near his company's warehouse in Hong Kong. Hong Kong police have since confirmed he is in mainland China. Lee's disappearance sparked demonstrations in Hong Kong, where protestors believe his arrest was a violation of the former colony's autonomy. Lee and Gui's supporters say Mighty Current was working on a book about the love affairs of Chinese President Xi Jinping. UK authorities say they are "deeply concerned" about the possible detention of Lee, a British passport holder, and his colleagues.

This Chinese-born Swede, right, ran publishing house Mighty Current in Hong Kong, known for printing political gossip about the Chinese leadership. He disappeared from his apartment in Thailand on October 17. Three months later, he suddenly appeared on Chinese state television, confessing to a 2003 hit and run. His supporters say he was kidnapped by Chinese agents and the Thai police tell CNN they have no record of him leaving the country.

Gui Minhai – This Chinese-born Swede, right, ran publishing house Mighty Current in Hong Kong, known for printing political gossip about the Chinese leadership. He disappeared from his apartment in Thailand on October 17. Three months later, he suddenly appeared on Chinese state television, confessing to a 2003 hit and run. His supporters say he was kidnapped by Chinese agents and the Thai police tell CNN they have no record of him leaving the country.

For critics of China and their families, fears that nowhere is safe as Beijing targets dissidents beyond its borders.

China's international hunt for dissidents – For critics of China and their families, fears that nowhere is safe as Beijing targets dissidents beyond its borders.

Coming in the wake of China's alleged kidnapping of five Hong Kong booksellers , this outrage suggests that nobody is safe anymore and that Beijing will not hesitate to break agreements or international conventions to further its aims. In fact, even being a foreign national, as two of the booksellers were (and one of the Taiwanese workers reportedly is), no longer confers the kind of protections that are assumed in such situations.

Although such action risks being counterproductive in terms of winning the hearts and minds of the Taiwanese, this is possibly a case where ideology is driving policy in China, perhaps the result of domestic developments that are forcing President Xi Jinping's government to adopt a harder line on Taiwan and other "peripheries."

Given its economic sway over a number of countries worldwide, and the apparent reluctance of the international community to push back whenever it breaks international law, it seems unlikely Beijing will run out of willing partners to enforce its rigid definition of "one China" anytime soon.

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Fatal blow for cross-strait relations?

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The alleged abduction of the Taiwanese workers casts serious doubt on Beijing's willingness to maintain a constructive relationship with Taiwan a little more than a month before a new administration is sworn in in Taipei.

In Taiwan, the reaction to what, for all intents and purposes, amounts to the kidnapping of Taiwanese nationals, has had a rallying impact similar to that seen when Chou Tzu-yu, a 16-year-old Taiwanese K-Pop singer, was forced to make an ISIS-style video apologizing for displaying the Republic of China's flag in a promotional clip.

Besides the consternation that has pervaded Taiwanese society upon seeing their compatriots nabbed by Kenyan police and shoved, black hoods on their heads, onto a China Southern airplane, politicians from all sides are now calling into question the eight years of rapprochement under President Ma Ying-jeou, who steps down on May 20.

The "status quo" that has served as the foundation of cross-straits ties, as well as the different interpretations of "one China" that have provided the necessary flexibility for the two sides to co-exist, now seem under assault by Beijing.

In fact, many of the key accomplishments of the "Beijing-friendly" Ma are now regarded in an entirely new light; rather than instruments of normalization and reciprocity, it is now difficult not to regard those successes cynically, as mere tools for Beijing to lock Taiwan ever more tightly into its embrace.

The Mainland Affairs Council, the agency in charge of communicating with Beijing, has been denied access to the 45 Taiwanese and authorities in Taiwan are being kept largely in the dark.

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Moreover, the handling of the matter demonstrates that the joint crime-fighting agreement signed between the two sides in 2009 -- the very kind of agreement that would come into play in such a situation -- is effectively a dead instrument which Beijing can ignore as it sees fit. The same conceivably applies to the twenty or so other agreements signed between the two sides since 2008.

Beijing's behavior will only succeed in alienating ordinary Taiwanese, among whom support for unification is at an all-time, single-digit low. For President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, this incident creates a challenge, as she will have to continue negotiating with a regime that has no compunction in breaking the rules and which is keen to extend the reach of its laws to include Taiwanese citizens, wherever they are.