Following a YouTuber’s warning that tens of thousands of Taiwanese have Chinese IDs, the government launched a nationwide probe and announced that it has revoked the Republic of China (Taiwan) citizenship of three Taiwanese who have Chinese IDs.
Taiwanese rapper Pa Chiung (八炯) and YouTuber Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源) in December last year released a documentary showing conversations with Chinese “united front” related agency members and warned that there were 100,000 Taiwanese holding Chinese IDs. In the video, a Taiwanese named Lin Jincheng (林金城), who is wanted for fraud in Taiwan and has become the head of the Taiwan Youth Entrepreneurship Park in China’s Fujian Province, said that he has been assisting Taiwanese in applying for Chinese IDs. He claimed that more than 200,000 people have obtained Chinese IDs without having to give up their Taiwanese IDs.
Under the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例), the Nationality Act (國籍法), the Household Registration Act (戶籍法) and other cross-strait laws, Taiwanese are prohibited from having Chinese citizenship, a Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport. China also does not permit dual citizenship. Mainland Affairs Council records showed that over the past 10 years, only 679 Taiwanese have had their household registrations, ID cards and passports invalidated after obtaining a Chinese passport or household registration.
The documentary has triggered concerns in Taiwan. In addition to the so-called Taiwan compatriot permit (台胞證) — a Beijing-issued travel document allowing Taiwanese entry into China that is designed to negate the use of a Taiwanese passport — China has in the past few years encouraged Taiwanese to apply for residence permits (居住證), which allow them to live and work in China without giving up their Taiwanese citizenship.
More recently, Beijing has been pushing Taiwanese to apply for a new document being offered by China’s Fujian Province called “Taiwanese Residence Certificate (台灣居民定居證),” which includes preferential financial and living incentives. However, those certificates are temporary papers whose primary aim is to encourage Taiwanese to obtain Chinese household registrations and Chinese IDs.
These are obviously Chinese “united front” tactics to entice Taiwanese to reside in China and boost its propaganda that Taiwanese are Chinese nationals. China in 2018 boasted that more than 20,000 Taiwanese had applied for residence permits, and last year said that a growing number of Taiwanese had gained Chinese residencies and IDs, without giving figures.
Lin in the video said that Taiwanese with residence permits could gain easier access to financial loans and buy properties in China. That raises the danger of these applications being used as tools to commit cross-strait economic fraud and personal information surveillance, putting the safety of Taiwanese in China at risk.
Although the two influencers’ estimates of the number of Taiwanese possessing Chinese IDs might be an exaggeration, the government launched an investigation and has so far questioned more than 30 people suspected of holding Chinese IDs. Three have had their citizenships revoked after it was confirmed that they have Chinese IDs. The Ministry of the Interior also found five cases of borough wardens with Chinese nationalities and discovered that several public relations firms in Taiwan were involved in promoting Chinese ID applications.
Faced with China’s intensified “united front” efforts that threaten Taiwan’s sovereignty and security, President William Lai (賴清德) called on the public not to sacrifice long-term safety and democracy for short-term gains. The government needs to raise a greater awareness of Taiwanese identity and set up more mechanisms to regulate cross-strait migration.
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
It is being said every second day: The ongoing recall campaign in Taiwan — where citizens are trying to collect enough signatures to trigger re-elections for a number of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators — is orchestrated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), or even President William Lai (賴清德) himself. The KMT makes the claim, and foreign media and analysts repeat it. However, they never show any proof — because there is not any. It is alarming how easily academics, journalists and experts toss around claims that amount to accusing a democratic government of conspiracy — without a shred of evidence. These
Taiwan is confronting escalating threats from its behemoth neighbor. Last month, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army conducted live-fire drills in the East China Sea, practicing blockades and precision strikes on simulated targets, while its escalating cyberattacks targeting government, financial and telecommunication systems threaten to disrupt Taiwan’s digital infrastructure. The mounting geopolitical pressure underscores Taiwan’s need to strengthen its defense capabilities to deter possible aggression and improve civilian preparedness. The consequences of inadequate preparation have been made all too clear by the tragic situation in Ukraine. Taiwan can build on its successful COVID-19 response, marked by effective planning and execution, to enhance
Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has upheld the core goals of “making America safer, stronger, and more prosperous,” fully implementing an “America first” policy. Countries have responded cautiously to the fresh style and rapid pace of the new Trump administration. The US has prioritized reindustrialization, building a stronger US role in the Indo-Pacific, and countering China’s malicious influence. This has created a high degree of alignment between the interests of Taiwan and the US in security, economics, technology and other spheres. Taiwan must properly understand the Trump administration’s intentions and coordinate, connect and correspond with US strategic goals.
RSS