Taiwan Solidarity Union lawmakers yesterday called into question the effectiveness of the government’s border control measures, accusing authorities of being lax in keeping tabs on Chinese visitors entering the country.
Without identifying their source, the legislators said that since 1988, a total of 2,768 Chinese nationals have overstayed their permits to visit Taiwan, while 2,327 others entered the nation and are unaccounted for.
The legislators also accused the National Immigration Agency (NIA) of deliberately underreporting the numbers, saying that just 303 undocumented Chinese nationals are mentioned on an NIA Web page.
In response, Huang Yung-jui (黃永睿), a section chief at the National Security Bureau, said the government has maintained its efforts to locate Chinese nationals who entered Taiwan legally, but are now listed as undocumented because their whereabouts are unknown.
The government has always paid great attention to the issue because these people could be engaging in illegal activities in Taiwan and may pose a threat to the country’s security, he added.
NIA First Specialized Operation Corps Deputy Chief Lu Yu-min (魯佑民) said that the Web page was established for the purpose of soliciting the public’s help in locating some undocumented Chinese nationals and does reflect the total number.
At the request of the lawmakers, Lu promised to provide comprehensive statistics regarding overstaying or undocumented Chinese nationals within two weeks and update the numbers every month.
Earlier this month, statistics from the NIA suggested that while Chinese now enjoy facilitated travel to Taiwan, criminal activities perpetrated by Chinese have also remained high.
More than 700 Chinese are on a list for overstaying their visa and 211 of them may be involved in illegal activities, the agency said, adding that these were only the numbers officially recorded.
The actual numbers could be as high as 1,000 Chinese overstays, it added.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
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