Taiwan carried out its first execution in five years late on Thursday, upsetting both rights groups and the European Union which called on the government to maintain its de facto moratorium on the death penalty.

The decision by Taiwan's justice ministry to carry out the first execution in the country since 2020 has attracted support and condemnation from a range of lawmakers and rights groups. It's also the first death sentence to be carried out since the Constitutional Court ruled last September that the scope of capital punishment should be narrowed and reserved for the most extreme cases.

By bno - Taipei Bureau Taiwan has faced renewed international scrutiny following its first execution in nearly five years, as human rights groups condemn the move as a significant setback. The execution took place late on January 16,

China's tourism ministry said on Friday that it has begun preparations to resume group tours to Taiwan from Shanghai and Fujian province in the near future, with Taipei saying it welcomed the move.

Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China (ROC), is an island separated from China by the Taiwan Strait. Mainland China, officially the People’s Republic of China (PRC), is under Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rule and asserts that Taiwan is an integral part of its territory, though it has never governed the island.

China will resume group tours to Taiwan by residents of Shanghai and Fujian province in the near future and preparations are underway for that, Chinese state media said on Friday. China and Taiwan have repeatedly traded accusations since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic about when and how tourism from China to the island could resume.