Taiwanese who register their households in China or hold passports issued by the PRC will not be treated as nationals of the Republic of China (ROC), Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Johnnason Liu (
The Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress passed the "National ID Card Law" at the end of June, which opens and option to residents from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan with household registrations in China to register for Chinese identification cards.
This law will take effect on Jan. 1 next year.
Scholars and Straits Exchange Foundation officials have expressed their concern that Beijing is trying to attract more Taiwanese to China and, by issuing them ID cards, are changing their national identity to Chinese.
This method of attracting Taiwanese is akin to "the United Front (
In response, the Mainland Affairs Council has submitted revisions to the Statute Governing the Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (
"The revised version of the law would deprive Taiwanese PRC ID cardholders of their right to vote, run for public office or sit for exams to be civil servants. Their household registration in Taiwan would be revoked, but their obligations to pay taxes and be conscripted to serve in the army would remain," Liu said.
"But they can still get back their nationality as an ROC citizen if they give up their PRC ID card and passport," Liu said.
The Legislative Yuan has not yet approved the revisions.
Attracted by cheap labor and the favorable business policies of the Chinese government, many Taiwanese companies have established branches -- or even headquarters -- in China during the past decade. Many employees have moved their families there for the sake of convenience.
Beijing has even been offering Taiwanese businessmen posts as city or county council representatives.
Two DPP legislators yesterday also complained that some government officials and military personnel who fled to Taiwan in 1949 have moved back, but still collect their pensions here.
"There are more than 6,000 veterans living in China," said Legislator Lin Ching-hsing (
Legislator Charles Chiang (
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia