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.
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