A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator yesterday warned of a growing threat of Chinese infiltration, citing a 60-fold jump in the number of Chinese visitors entering Taiwan using altered or falsified documents.
DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that based on the National Immigration Agency’s records, the number of Chinese entering Taiwan using altered and falsified documents rose from nine in 2012 to 76 last year and further to 535 in the first half of this year.
Chen said the increase in Chinese criminal activity could be an attempt to swing November’s seven-in-one elections in favor of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Identification documents modified or changed included proof of work and bank savings attestations, the agency’s records show.
Chen said that Taiwan has strict limits on the number of Chinese citizens from select cities that can apply for entry as free independent travelers (FIT) in Taiwan; the rest have to show documents to prove that they are either businesspeople, professionals or people seeking aesthetic medical services.
However, with the elections scheduled this year, there has been an explosion in the number of falsified documents, Chen said, adding that this suggested that the Beijing government was systematically trying to get as many people as possible into Taiwan through the loopholes.
Chen added that the agency records showed that there were 2,362 Chinese citizens who had overstayed their visas, but only 49 were arrested. Moreover, a notice on the agency’s Web site showed that it could not find 306 Chinese citizens who had disappeared.
The discrepancy in numbers and the low number of arrests suggest dereliction of duty on the part of the agency, Chen said.
Several agency officials have been arrested recently for allegedly helping foreign women arriving in Taiwan under arranged marriages to find employment at a massage shop in New Taipei City, he added.
Chen called on national security agencies to investigate the matter.
He added that National Security Council Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) should focus on this issue, instead of using intelligence agencies to spy on rival political parties, or over-reaching his authority with his visits to agencies such as the Investigation Bureau, the National Police Agency, the National Immigration Agency, the Coast Guard Administration and the military police.
In response, the NIA said it had convened agency officials earlier this year to investigate the surge in the number of cases involving falsified and altered identification documents, and found the source to be “certain groups” operating on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
The groups have found this to be a lucrative business and have set up networks on both sides of the Strait to facilitate the dispersal of falsified documents among Chinese who visit Taiwan as businesspeople, professionals or people seeking aesthetic medical services, the agency said.
These visitors had come here posing as tourists while engaging in activities that were not within the purview of their visas, the agency said.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a