The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has proposed amendments to laws governing cross-strait relations that would require all public servants to obtain prior approval to visit China, Hong Kong or Macau.
The proposed changes are part of efforts to implement President William Lai’s (賴清德) 17 national security strategies aimed at countering Beijing’s infiltration and influence operations, the council said.
Under 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), only political appointees, personnel involved in national security, sensitive interests or confidential matters, and public servants at or above grade 11 in the selected appointment rank are currently required to obtain government approval before visiting China.
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Political appointees and personnel involved in matters of national security, sensitive interests, or classified information could be fined between NT$2 million and NT$10 million (US$66,825 to US$334,124) if they travel to China without prior approval from the Joint Review Committee.
Public servants at grade 11 or higher who fail to obtain approval from the Ministry of the Interior before visiting China could be fined between NT$20,000 and NT$100,000.
However, public servants ranked at grade 10 or below are currently exempt from these requirements and would be included via the amendments, the MAC said.
Although public servants are required under personnel regulations to notify their agencies before traveling to China, most agencies fail to enforce these rules or impose penalties, it said.
To strengthen oversight, the proposed amendments would strengthen the regulatory framework by bringing all public servants, regardless of rank, under the scope of the Act, the council said, adding that the criteria for penalties would be standardized.
To extend these regulations to public servants visiting Hong Kong or Macau, the council also proposed amendments to Article 10 of the Act Governing Relations with Hong Kong and Macau (香港澳門關係條例).
A Control Yuan report showed that 318 public servants had illegally traveled to China, including 55 senior officials and 263 junior personnel, it said.
However, the actual number of public servants who have visited China is likely higher, it said, citing cases in which street-level personnel travel without applying for leave, making it difficult for their agencies to track or record such trips.
Lai has said that information on government officials visiting China, “from administrative officials and lawmakers to local councilors and borough or village wardens,” should be open and transparent, the council said.
Therefore, the council would explore how to enhance management and disclosure of visits to China made by these democratically elected public servants, it said.
“Enhanced regulation would not ban them from traveling to China, but would disclose such information,” it said, adding that specific measures would be finalized by Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰).
Regarding Chinese residency permits, the Executive Yuan has said that military personnel, public servants and public-school teachers are prohibited from applying for or holding such permits.
However, there are no current restrictions on members of the general public, as Chinese law allows individuals to obtain a residency permit without registering household residency in China, meaning they can legally hold the permit without contravening Taiwan’s cross-strait regulations.
About 500,000 to 600,000 Taiwanese currently reside in China, including businesspeople, managers and students, the council said.
Given this reality, asking them to refrain from holding Chinese residency permits would be “unrealistic,” it added.
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