The way Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has been going about setting up a system of tributaries to the Chinese empire — in addition to military matters and economic expansion — is to include 60 million “Chinese descendants” abroad within the “Chinese” scope, thus making them “a part of China.”
Ever since Xi took office, the issue of a “Chinese descendant card” has been discussed constantly and has sparked many disputes.
Although Chinese officials continue to deny it, issuing a “Taiwan compatriot travel document” and extending “the same treatment as citizens” to Taiwanese is clearly a part of this plan.
At the opening of the 13th National Games of China in Tianjin in late August, the General Administration of Sport is to introduce a policy that allows top Chinese athletes who hold citizenship in another nation and top overseas Chinese athletes to participate, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.
“Chinese holding another citizenship” means someone who was originally a Chinese citizen, but has obtained another nation’s citizenship, as well as descendants of Chinese citizens.
This definition is what China and former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) meant with their talk about “descendants of the Yellow Emperor”: No matter how many generations your family has lived outside of China, you will always be a target.
If these people were to participate in China’s National Games to fight for the glory of “the nation,” they would of course be fighting for the glory of China and not their own country, raising the issue of loyalty.
In the wake of the flooding in eastern China in 1991, a People’s Daily commentator wrote that the disaster relief provided by Chinese and “compatriots” in Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong as well as overseas Chinese was a display of the “strong cohesion of the Chinese nation” and that the “Chinese nation is a whole, and any place within that nation is an indivisible part of China.”
At the time, I had said that it was an awkward statement for Chinese in other nations.
Singapore took a low profile when providing disaster relief out of concern that it would be seen as a part of China.
China has never paid any attention to the legal nationality held by Chinese descendants — it only recognizes racial blood relations, which is effectually racist.
However, Western nations are not sufficiently aware of this, and therefore indulge the loyalty toward China of these “unreformed” Chinese descendants who now hold citizenship in a Western country, even thinking they could be making up a Chinese fifth column.
The US has arrested many Chinese descendants involved in technological or business espionage — surely these people have been encouraged by China to betray the US.
China is manipulating Chinese descendants into serving the Chinese Communist Party, but when they get caught, Beijing ignores them.
This is a lesson that cannot be ignored.
Taiwanese should be frightened by the prospect of receiving “the same treatment as citizens” and worry about Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲) rather than remain complacent.
This is not the time to be “friendly toward China.”
Paul Lin is a political commentator.
Translated by Perry Svensson
Congratulations to China’s working class — they have officially entered the “Livestock Feed 2.0” era. While others are still researching how to achieve healthy and balanced diets, China has already evolved to the point where it does not matter whether you are actually eating food, as long as you can swallow it. There is no need for cooking, chewing or making decisions — just tear open a package, add some hot water and in a short three minutes you have something that can keep you alive for at least another six hours. This is not science fiction — it is reality.
A foreign colleague of mine asked me recently, “What is a safe distance from potential People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force’s (PLARF) Taiwan targets?” This article will answer this question and help people living in Taiwan have a deeper understanding of the threat. Why is it important to understand PLA/PLARF targeting strategy? According to RAND analysis, the PLA’s “systems destruction warfare” focuses on crippling an adversary’s operational system by targeting its networks, especially leadership, command and control (C2) nodes, sensors, and information hubs. Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, noted in his 15 May 2025 Sedona Forum keynote speech that, as
In a world increasingly defined by unpredictability, two actors stand out as islands of stability: Europe and Taiwan. One, a sprawling union of democracies, but under immense pressure, grappling with a geopolitical reality it was not originally designed for. The other, a vibrant, resilient democracy thriving as a technological global leader, but living under a growing existential threat. In response to rising uncertainties, they are both seeking resilience and learning to better position themselves. It is now time they recognize each other not just as partners of convenience, but as strategic and indispensable lifelines. The US, long seen as the anchor
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) last week announced that the KMT was launching “Operation Patriot” in response to an unprecedented massive campaign to recall 31 KMT legislators. However, his action has also raised questions and doubts: Are these so-called “patriots” pledging allegiance to the country or to the party? While all KMT-proposed campaigns to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers have failed, and a growing number of local KMT chapter personnel have been indicted for allegedly forging petition signatures, media reports said that at least 26 recall motions against KMT legislators have passed the second signature threshold
RSS