During his second meeting with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) in Guangzhou, China, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) halfheartedly expressed his opinion on China’s unilateral decision to replace the paper-based “Taiwan Compatriot Permit” with electronic cards.
Zhang’s response was that the electronic card is implemented because Taiwanese need it, especially businesspeople and students.
However, the impact of this change should not be underestimated.
China’s domestic affairs have been quite problematic in recent years. The transformation of its household registration system, the management of temporary residential registration and the proliferation of unregistered households in major cities have created major issues.
According to Chinese government data, 5.36 million visits by Taiwanese were registered last year; as for the number of so-called “Taiwanese rovers” stranded in major Chinese cities, their numbers could reach several thousand. Certainly these factors could affect the stability of China’s social structure.
According to articles in China’s Measure for the Control of Chinese Citizens Traveling to or from the Region of Taiwan, Taiwanese who stay in inns, hotels, guesthouses, schools, enterprises, public institutions or agencies, organizations or other entities have to fill out temporary lodging registration forms.
Those who stay with a relative or a friend should apply for temporary lodging registration at a local police station or household registration office within 24 hours, or 72 hours in rural areas.
Probably few Taiwanese who stay at a friend or relative’s house would submit an application for temporary registration. That is why the Chinese State Council finalized its revision of the measure in June, not only emphasizing that Taiwanese travelers must apply for temporary lodging registration, but also legislating penalties for failing to do so. Coincidentally, the Chinese National Security Act also came into effect on July 1.
Although the act cannot exert power across the Taiwan Strait, once Taiwanese enter China, their whereabouts are no longer off the radar, and what they say or write can get them into trouble.
The electronic “Taiwan Compatriot Permit,” which has an embedded IC chip, has been introduced, lodging in China requires registration and passengers’ real names must be submitted to ride on high-speed trains — this means that the whereabouts of Taiwanese are recorded in full. By comparing travelers’ data, the location of their lodging can be determined.
Even if they do not apply for temporary lodging registration, China claims to be a country under the rule of law, and once its police departments start to take lack of compliance seriously, it would be impossible for anyone to avoid the controls.
This means that the measures will make management and control of Taiwanese travelers and “rovers” more effective. What kind of harm will this card cause to Taiwanese intelligence agents working in China? Perhaps the National Security Bureau has already devised a comprehensive plan to respond.
China launched the new electronic card without negotiating with the government at all. It told Taiwanese how beneficial it is for them to be exempt from paying visa fees to enter China. Beijing went on to experiment with these new policies in Xiamen, in China’s Fujian Province, before finally announcing their general implementation.
It shows how dexterous China is in applying its strategies. There will be more episodes such as this in the future.
Chen Wei-chung is a former section chief at the National Security Bureau.
Translated by Ethan Zhan
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS