The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has issued a new interpretation of a cross-strait act, specifying that holding a permanent residency certificate issued by China would also result in the loss of “Taiwan status.”
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 “people of the Taiwan Area may not have household registrations in the Mainland Area,” and those who contravene this provision “shall be deprived of its status as the people of the Taiwan Area and its rights.”
In the new interpretation issued on Wednesday last week, the council said that “having [Chinese] household registrations” under the act should be understood to include holding a Chinese ID card and permanent residency certificate — an intermediate identification document valid for a certain period that allows holders to apply for a Chinese ID card.
Photo: Taipei Times
Given that the Chinese authorities use the concept of “permanent residency” as the basis for legal and administrative management, an individual who obtains a permanent residency certificate issued by China is therefore eligible to register for a household registration in China, the council said.
Such a move enables them to apply for a Chinese ID card, the same as the ones held by people of the Mainland Area, it said.
The interpretation was issued to uphold the “principle of maintaining a single status for individuals across the Taiwan Strait,” and to avoid “status confusion” that could disrupt cross-strait interactions and social order, the council said.
The council also said that the interpretation is based on the “legislative intent, regulatory purpose and contextual meaning” of the act.
By including Chinese permanent residency certificates, the new interpretation expands the previous scope, which covered Chinese household registrations, ID cards and passports.
However, holding a Chinese residency certificate does not contravene the act and its interpretation.
Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) in February said that the council was reviewing regulations and legal frameworks to strengthen oversight of Taiwanese citizens obtaining Chinese residency certificates, permanent residency certificates and ID cards, as the number of such cases continues to rise.
The potential amendments to the act would remind the public that applying for “various identification documents in China carries multiple risks,” Chiu said at the time.
Since February, the council, the Ministry of Civil Service and the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration have instructed government agencies to check whether active military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers hold any Chinese-issued documents.
President William Lai (賴清德) last month announced 17 major strategies in response to “five major national security and united front threats” facing Taiwan.
One of the strategies tasks the council and other agencies with inspecting identification documents that Taiwanese military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers might have applied for in China, as a way of preventing and deterring “united front” operations disguised as “integrated development,” a Presidential Office statement said.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
The Taipei District Court today ruled to extend the incommunicado detention of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) for two more months as part of an ongoing corruption trial. Codefendants in the case — real-estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Ko's former mayoral office head Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗) — were granted bail of NT$100 million (US$3.4 million) and NT$20 million respectively. Sheen and Lee would also be barred from leaving the country for eight months and prohibited from contact with, harassing, threatening or inquiring after the case with codefendants or witnesses. The two would also be
RSS