Taiwanese who join the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could face a fine of NT$100,000 to NT$500,000, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Katharine Chang (張小月) said on Tuesday.
Chang issued the warning after Taiwanese Lu Li-an (盧麗安) served as a delegate to the CCP’s 19th National Congress and Wang Yu-qing (王裕慶), a 39-year-old Taiwanese student at Peking University in Beijing, told Hong Kong media that he plans to join the party after China’s “two sessions” next year.
The two sessions refer to the annual plenary meetings of China’s top political, legislative and consultative bodies, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the National People’s Congress.
Chang said at a seminar on the congress and the outlook for cross-strait relations that the CCP is different from ordinary political parties, because it is in full control of the Chinese government and its ultimate goal is to unify Taiwan with China and implement its “one country, two systems” formula.
The formula suggests that there would be only “one China,” but distinct Chinese regions, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, could retain their own capitalist economic and political systems, while the rest of China implements the socialist system.
“The biggest difference between Taiwan and China is Taiwan’s democratic and free political system,” Chang said.
Although there have been no cases of Taiwanese students joining the CCP, the council would pay close attention to the issue, she said.
Chang urged Taiwanese students not to join the CCP to avoid compromising their Republic of China (ROC) civic rights and receiving a fine.
According to Chinese law, only registered Chinese residents can join the CCP, while according to Taiwan’s law, households registered in China are to be stripped of rights entitled to ROC households.
That means forfeiting civic rights, including the eligibility to obtain a national identification card.
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