National security agencies should do more to counter espionage operations conducted through Chinese spouses and immigrant organizations, a security researcher said.
Wang Chih-sheng (王智盛), an associate professor at the Central Police University’s Border Police Department, made the comments at the weekend following the high-profile deportation of three Chinese women over pro-unification social media posts.
Taiwanese courts upheld the deportations, citing the Act Governing the Relations Between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), which prohibits Chinese residents in Taiwan from engaging in activities that compromise national security or social stability.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Chinese-born influencer Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), who goes by “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) and was deported last month, likely had direct ties with the Chinese government, as her online content advocating for “unification by force” had been shared on Beijing-run Web site Taiwan.cn, Wang said.
When Chinese-born influencer Zhao Chan (趙嬋), better known online as Xiaowei (小微), was deported last week after failing to leave of her own volition, she yelled at reporters at the airport that she was “a righteous Chinese,” he said, adding that her behavior was too conspicuous to be unscripted.
In contrast, Zhang Yang (張燕), better known as Enqi (恩綺), kept a low profile and left the nation quietly, Wang said.
Liu and Zhao had expressed the intent to return to Taiwan using a tourism visa, indicating that Beijing would test the government’s response, trying to find loopholes in immigration laws, he said.
The next time Taiwan deports Chinese immigrants for pro-Beijing activities, the government should expect them to seek legal aid through immigration advocacy groups, Wang said.
The China Production Party, an organization founded mainly by Chinese spouses of Taiwanese, has started a campaign urging Taiwanese lawmakers to kneel at Mao Zedong’s (毛澤東) coffin at the former Chinese leader’s mausoleum in Beijing, he said.
While the vast majority of the 390,000 Chinese spouses married a Taiwanese out of love or a desire for a better life, some came to Taiwan with a mission, he said.
National security officials should focus on the small minority of Chinese spouses who display a pattern of suspicious behavior, Wang said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) in March last year proposed amending the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area to allow Chinese spouses of Taiwanese to obtain Taiwanese citizenship after four years of marriage.
Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) put discussion of the proposal on hold after opposition by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus.
KMT Legislator Yu Hao (游顥) in January proposed a similar amendment, saying that Chinese spouses should be treated the same as other foreign spouses of Taiwanese, but after negotiation with the KMT caucus, decided to return the bill to the Procedure Committee.
Some DPP legislators have proposed requiring Chinese spouses to renounce their nationality to apply for Taiwanese citizenship. Other DPP lawmakers have said the act must be amended to require Chinese spouses to declare that they have given up their Chinese citizenship and would be loyal to Taiwan.
The Kuma Academy called for extending the minimum requirement for Chinese spouses to apply for citizenship extended to six years to eight years.
It said that Chinese are foreigners, so they should be treated the same as other foreign spouses of Taiwanese.
A Chinese spouse who publicly advocates for Taiwan’s unification with China by force is not welcome in Taiwan, Kuma Academy chief executive officer Chu Fu-ming (朱福銘) said on Sunday.
Taiwan’s resources should not be used on people who commit treason and threaten Taiwan’s safety, Chu said.
Additional reporting by Lee Wen-hsin and Liu Wan-lin
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