The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said that any collaboration between the Lienchiang (Matsu) County Government and China’s Fujian Provincial Government to promote an international transportation card would contravene cross-strait law.
In early March, Chinese media reported that the Fujian government was offering the pass preloaded with 300 yuan (US$42) to Lienchiang residents to travel to the Chinese province.
From March 6 to 12, the Lienchiang County Government set up counters at township offices to gauge interest in the card.
Photos from Wang Chung-ming’s Facebook account and the Beigan Township Office Web site
In addition, the Matsu Daily, the county government’s official media source, on March 10 quoted the Fuzhou Daily as saying that Lienchiang residents could apply for the pass through some Chinese apps, including WeChat.
Promoting the “Fujian-Matsu city pass” contravenes the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), MAC Deputy Minister Jan Jyh-horng (詹志宏) told reporters yesterday.
After receiving an invitation to collaborate on the scheme in March, the county had contacted the council to ask whether it would contradict Article 33-1 of the act, he said, adding that it recommended against collaboration, as it would “most certainly” contravene the article.
The council told the county that the collaboration, requiring the traveler’s national ID and Taiwan Compatriot Permit, risks leaking county residents’ personal information to China, Jan said.
The county government did not officially promote the event following clear MAC opposition, but allowed its residents to visit Fuzhou to apply for a pass, he said.
The Lienchiang County Government said it would not deliver personal information to China, but it wanted to inform Chinese officials how many residents had the intention of applying for the pass, he said, adding that the county government told the council that it would “only send a number.”
If the county government had continued with the program, it would have contravened the act, Jan said.
Also yesterday, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications replied to Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin’s (林楚茵) query, affirming that the ministry had not received any applications from the the county government regarding the issue.
The government encourages healthy interactions across the Taiwan Strait, but it is against using pretexts to sneak past “united front” rhetoric, it said.
The ministry urged the public to be alert to Chinese actions that seek to divide the Taiwanese public and create opportunities for infiltration.
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-yu and CNA
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