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 (
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
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