The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) silence in the face of Beijing’s announcement that Taiwanese visitors no longer need to apply for entry permits to China has many left wondering whether President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration still exists.
On Sunday, National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Yu Zhengsheng (俞正聲) announced that Taiwanese travelers to China may now enjoy visa-free privilege, adding that the form of the existing “Taiwan compatriot travel document” (台胞證) — a permit issued by Chinese authorities allowing Taiwanese to travel to China — is to be changed to an IC card.
According to the prospective changes, Taiwanese travelers will no longer have to apply for an entry permit when they plan to take a trip to China as the IC card allows the holder automatic entry.
Granted, this new measure would certainly prove more convenient for China-bound Taiwanese travelers and save money (the permit costs applicants NT$300 each entry), but factoring sensitive cross-strait political relations and the fact that China has never renounced its ambition to annex Taiwan, the proposed privileged treatment for Taiwanese travelers ought not be taken lightly.
Skeptics have reason to doubt China’s intentions.
Hong Kongers and Macanese initially visited China via a booklet travel document named the “Hong Kong and Macau resident travel permit to enter the neidi” (港澳居民來往內地通行證), which were also termed “home visit permits” (回鄉證). The paper document was changed to an IC card in 1999, the design of which was later adopted for the second-generation of resident ID cards the Chinese government introduced in China in 2004.
Given that both Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions of China, Chinese wanting to travel to Hong Kong and Macau do not need a visa, only a permit.
Critics have good reason to suspect that this so-called visa-exemption program “to give convenience to Taiwanese students studying in China or people doing business there” is merely an attempt to downgrade Taiwan’s sovereign status, all the while ensuring Taiwan is “Hong Kong-ized” (香港化), creating an international impression that Taiwan is part of China.
In view of the likelihood that Beijing is using the pretense of supporting exchanges between people on the both sides of the Taiwan Strait and offering visa-free treatment to make life easier for Taiwanese visitors as a tactic to further its political agenda in Taiwan, the whole matter certainly warrants a careful assessment by the government as it relates to national security and sovereignty.
The government has said it would keep a close eye on the matter as Beijing has yet to release any details.
Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) yesterday finally made the government’s first public comments on the proposal, saying: “What we care more about is whether it gives consideration to current cross-strait relations and the dignity of Taiwan.”
It is hoped that the government will review the matter to ensure it upholds the nation’s dignity and make it clear that Taiwan is not subordinate to China.
US aerospace company Boeing Co has in recent years been involved in numerous safety incidents, including crashes of its 737 Max airliners, which have caused widespread concern about the company’s safety record. It has recently come to light that titanium jet engine parts used by Boeing and its European competitor Airbus SE were sold with falsified documentation. The source of the titanium used in these parts has been traced back to an unknown Chinese company. It is clear that China is trying to sneak questionable titanium materials into the supply chain and use any ensuing problems as an opportunity to
It’s not every month that the US Department of State sends two deputy assistant secretary-level officials to Taiwan, together. Its rarer still that such senior State Department policy officers, once on the ground in Taipei, make a point of huddling with fellow diplomats from “like-minded” NATO, ANZUS and Japanese governments to coordinate their multilateral Taiwan policies. The State Department issued a press release on June 22 admitting that the two American “representatives” had “hosted consultations in Taipei” with their counterparts from the “Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” The consultations were blandly dubbed the “US-Taiwan Working Group on International Organizations.” The State
The Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises, the largest naval exercise in the region, are aimed at deepening international collaboration and interaction while strengthening tactical capabilities and flexibility in tackling maritime crises. China was invited to participate in RIMPAC in 2014 and 2016, but it was excluded this year. The underlying reason is that Beijing’s ambitions of regional expansion and challenging the international order have raised global concern. The world has made clear its suspicions of China, and its exclusion from RIMPAC this year will bring about a sea change in years to come. The purpose of excluding China is primarily
The Chinese Supreme People’s Court and other government agencies released new legal guidelines criminalizing “Taiwan independence diehard separatists.” While mostly symbolic — the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has never had jurisdiction over Taiwan — Tamkang University Graduate Institute of China Studies associate professor Chang Wu-ueh (張五岳), an expert on cross-strait relations, said: “They aim to explain domestically how they are countering ‘Taiwan independence,’ they aim to declare internationally their claimed jurisdiction over Taiwan and they aim to deter Taiwanese.” Analysts do not know for sure why Beijing is propagating these guidelines now. Under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), deciphering the