A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator has drafted a legal amendment that would nullify the household registration of Taiwanese who obtain the new Chinese residency permit cards unveiled by Beijing last month.
DPP Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) yesterday said that he drafted the amendment, which has received the required number of signatures to propose amending the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Ara and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
Wang said one of the focuses of the proposed amendment is Article 9-1 of the act, which prohibits Republic of China citizens from having household registrations in China, or from holding passports issued by the Chinese government.
“My proposed amendment will extend the existing terms to people who register in China to obtain [the new] Chinese residency cards,” Wang said, “However, if they renounce their Chinese residency cards, they can restore their Taiwanese household registration and citizenship rights.”
Taiwanese who run companies or work in China might find it easier and more convenient to conduct business with the new residency card, Wang said.
“However, the Chinese government will able to track you, and record all of your activities and movements,” he said.
If the amendment is passed, Taiwanese in China could be caught between the laws of the two governments, Wang said.
“However, if we do not propose the amendment, this situation could cause serious problems for national security, so we should discuss it with all lawmakers and examine the ramifications,” he said.
Wang compared Beijing’s new policy to the US policy of issuing green cards to citizens of other nations and asked whether Beijing’s move proved that Taiwan and China are separate, distinct nations.
The proposed amendment is to be discussed at the first meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee when the new legislative session begins on Friday.
The DPP has invited Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) to explain the agency’s response to China’s move to issue residency permit cards to people from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said his party has also considered introducing amendments about the issue, which would require Taiwanese who have obtained Chinese residency cards to notify the government that they have done so when they return home.
“The NPP is considering whether to suspend these people’s household registration or to nullify them outright. Nullification would lead to changes in many areas, including running for public office, receiving social welfare benefits and other citizenship rights. Therefore we need more discussions. The NPP would come up with its own version [of an amendment proposal] within one or two weeks,” Hsu said.
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