The The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday urged the public not to use People’s Republic of China (PRC) passports because it puts them at risk of losing the rights and benefits they have as Republic of China (ROC) citizens.
The council statement followed a report by Hong Kong-based Super Media on Friday that China might launch a pilot program to issue passports for people living in what it describes as the “Taiwan Special Administrative Region” (SAR) as part of its efforts to “solve the Taiwan problem.”
A China-based academic suggested that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) establish a preparatory committee for a proposed “Taiwan SAR” and invite public figures from Taiwan to participate, the report said.
The committee would issue “Taiwan SAR” passports to Taiwanese living in Hong Kong and Macau, the report said.
“The proposal shows that the atmosphere in the Chinese government is such that it is risky not to toe the party line on the issue of Taiwan,” the council said.
Some people in the Chinese government are using the current political atmosphere as an opportunity to try to belittle and humiliate Taiwan, as well as to provoke the nation, it added
“They are trying to incite conflict between the two sides [of the Taiwan Strait], which we will not accept. We would also like to remind the Chinese Communist Party to be aware of the latent risk of what it is doing,” the council said.
Under Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例), Taiwanese are not permitted to use passports issued by the PRC. Violators face losing their ROC citizenship and all associated rights.
Article 33 of the act prohibits Taiwanese from engaging in Chinese political or military affairs, or from becoming a member of any Chinese party or government-affiliated group.
China’s use of threats and political pressure against Taiwan has only hurt Taiwanese’s sentiments toward China and has not helped cross-strait relations, the council said.
It also called on China to adopt a benevolent approach toward Taiwan given the circumstances.
Additional reporting by CNA
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS