Senior civil servants and officials whose work relates to national security are to be barred from pursuing advanced studies in China as of today, Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) announced yesterday.
The revised Regulations Governing Public Servants and Special Status Personnel from the Taiwan Area Entering the Mainland Area (臺灣地區公務員及特定身分人員進入大陸地區許可辦法), published on Tuesday, bar such officials from pursuing advanced studies, studying for credit, engaging in special projects or other types of advanced studies in China, Chen said.
“The ministry has discussed the matter for some time and published the revised regulations in view of national security,” he said.
Some senior officials have studied in China without obtaining prior approval and are known to have traveled there during vacations, he said.
“Previously, we did not have punishments for such acts, but punishments will now be handed out now that the regulations have been revised,” he said.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said the ban applies to senior civil servants and officials whose work is related to matters of national security; ministers without portfolio; heads of the nation’s special municipalities; heads of cities and counties; personnel from the National Security Bureau and the Ministry of National Defense; members of the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau who do not have civil servant status; as well as individuals or private groups commissioned to work in areas concerning national secrets.
Junior civil servants will not be affected, the agency said.
Many civil servants have traveled to China for advanced studies over the years.
After the “small three links” were established between Kinmen, Matsu and China in 2001, several mid-ranking and senior officials in the Kinmen County Government pursued masters degrees or doctorates in China.
National Security Bureau data shows that between 2004 and November last year, 97 civil servants went to China, mainly to pursue doctorates. Most of them studied at Xiamen University in Fujian Province, the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing and Jinan University in Guangzhou.
The Directorate-General of Personnel Administration said it has no precise data concerning the number of civil servants going to China for advanced studies, but it said there are about 8,000 senior civil servants and about 1 percent will be affected by the new rules.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) late last year said that civil servants studying in China could give create concerns about national security.
At the time, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said that while the law did not ban senior civil servants from studying in China, the government did not “support or encourage” such a practice.
The new regulations were drawn up to address the issue.
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