The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) has determined that Taiwanese working as assistants to community directors in China have breached the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
At the 10th Straits Forum in Xiamen, China, in June, 35 young Taiwanese took jobs as assistants to community directors in Xiamen’s Haicang District.
A notice published by the district government’s civil affairs bureau said that the position was open to Taiwanese aged 45 or younger who have a college degree and support the so-called “1992 consensus,” as well as the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and the reinvigoration of the Zhonghua minzu (中華民族, “Chinese ethnic group”).
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
Those selected would earn 150,000 yuan (US$21,803) per year and would be in charge of village planning, collecting information about villages’ histories and gauging public opinion, as well as promoting Chinese culture, the notice said.
Xiamen University has also been looking for Taiwanese students and graduates to fill five internships as assistants to community directors, saying that they would receive an internship subsidy of 1,980 yuan and a housing subsidy of 500 yuan per month.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥) earlier this week said that the ministry had convened an interministerial meeting to discuss the employment of Taiwanese as assistants to community directors in Xiamen.
“Based on the legal interpretations of concerned government agencies, the post is categorized by China’s government structural regulations as being part of a local government. It is similar to the position of district clerk in Taiwan and as such has been deemed a position within the Chinese administration,” Chen said.
Article 33 of the act prohibits Taiwanese from taking up posts in Chinese government of military institutions, or becoming a member of any Chinese party.
The government has discovered 33 Taiwanese who have taken up the role and has sent them a questionnaire regarding their position, Chen said.
Some have returned the questionnaire, but the ministry was still waiting for a response from the rest, he said.
Asked whether the 33 would face a fine of between NT$100,000 and NT$500,000 for contravening the act, Chen said that as the Haicang District government used a travel agency it funded to sign their employment contracts, they might not have been aware of the nature of the positions they were hired to fill.
The ministry would try to handle the matter in a more appropriate manner, he added.
The Mainland Affairs Council said that as the employment situation differs between individuals, the government has been conducting an administrative investigation to obtain a better understanding of the matter.
The movement of talent across the Taiwan Strait has become an inevitable trend, the council said, adding that the government understands that many people might accidentally break the law due to information asymmetry.
However, it is the government’s responsibility to remind such people of the nature of their position to prevent them from breaking the law, the council said.
The so-called “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS