Taiwan has a porous border with lax enforcement of regulations and flawed verification of foreign visitor documentation, resulting in severe erosion of the nation’s sovereignty, legislators and officials from the pan-green camp say.
Therefore recommendations were made by Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Chou Ni-an (周倪安) yesterday to tighten security measures at borders and entry ports, and reduce the Chinese tourist limit to 3,000 per day.
During an intervew with the press yesterday, Chou said the agencies and police security units responsible for border control are under severe strain and borders are riddled with holes where the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are under constant assault.
She said there had been many problems since the government opened the nation to Chinese tourists, both for package tours and independent travel.
“We have had Chinese tourists who ran away and remained missing after overstaying their visas. Many of them have engaged in illegal activities, such as drug smuggling, prostitution, human trafficking, fraud and spying on military installations,” the TSU legislator said.
Chou inquired about border control measures at a legislative committee meeting on Wednesday, and the National Immigration Agency, Aviation Police Bureau and National Security Bureau all reported that they are overloaded and lack sufficient manpower to carry out their tasks.
“There is no effective control at our borders. Agencies in charge of the nation’s security are not doing their jobs. Thus, our citizens feel very unsafe and are fearful of the erosion of our nation’s sovereignty,” she said.
“Hong Kong society has widespread discontent and feeling of uncertainty in recent years, and that led to the current democracy movement. For the direction we are heading, Taiwan will soon become like Hong Kong,” Chou said.
She demanded the government stop its “open door” policy and to allow no more than 3,000 Chinese tourists a day for all categories of visitors.
Currently, the government has a maximum daily allowance of 8,000 for visitors from China on group tours, and 3,000 for independent Chinese travelers.
The quota curtailment is needed because “China is still the main enemy, making threats to invade and launch missiles at Taiwan,” TSU legal affairs adviser Chia Tek-khiam (謝德謙) said.
“China has sent over undercover agents, posing as tourists or visiting academics, to conduct espionage in Taiwan. It is known that Chinese agents have intruded into military installations, taking photographs and gathering national intelligence information,” Chia said.
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