The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday vowed to investigate claims made in a YouTube video about China’s efforts to politically influence young Taiwanese and encourage them to apply for Chinese ID cards.
The council’s comments follow Saturday’s release of a video by Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源) and YouTuber “Pa Chiung (八炯)” on China’s “united front” tactics. It is the second video on the subject the pair have released this month.
In the video, Chen visits the Taiwan Youth Entrepreneurship Park in Quanzhou in China’s Fujian Province and the Strait Herald news platform in Xiamen, China.
Photo: Taipei Times
The Strait Herald — owned by newspaper publisher Fujian Daily News, which is affiliated with the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — primarily focuses on issues related to Taiwan.
Strait Herald assistant director Lin Jingdong (林靖東), who is a member of the CCP, discussed in the video strategies used to influence young Taiwanese as a part of China’s “united front” tactics.
The tactics include “incubating” young Taiwanese through Taiwan-related organizations and collaborating with many small-scale influencers.
When Chen asked her about potentially running for public office, Lin said he should consider aligning with the New Party or the China Unification Promotion Party, but if he requires “organized” votes, he should align with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Chen also spoke with the head of the entrepreneurship park, Lin Jincheng (林金城), who said that within a month Chen could apply for a Chinese ID card, register a company in China and start a cross-border e-commerce business.
With a Chinese ID card, Chen could acquire property and vehicles in China without a down payment and use them as collateral to apply for bank loans, Lin Jincheng said in the video.
Due to Taiwan’s political situation, any Taiwanese who is a “compatriot” can apply for a Chinese ID card, they said.
The video said that about 2,000 Taiwanese living in Xiamen have Chinese ID cards and 4,000 Taiwanese are applying for household registration in the city.
More than 100,000 Taiwanese already have Chinese ID cards, and the number of total applicants has reached 200,000, the video said.
The video also said that some young Taiwanese “entrepreneurs” overborrow from banks, and then split the money with intermediaries and CCP officials before transferring the rest back to Taiwan.
The MAC said that the CCP offers benefits to Taiwanese under the guise of “cross-strait exchange,” in an effort to divide the nation and undermine its stability.
Under Article 9 of the Act Governing the Relations Between the People of Taiwan and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), “people of the Taiwan Area may not have household registrations in the Mainland Area or hold passports issued by the Mainland Area.”
Contraveners could have their Taiwanese household registration and citizenship revoked, and lose their right to participate in elections, recalls and referendums, serve in the military, and hold public office, it said.
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of 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) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
RSS