A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator yesterday warned of a growing threat of Chinese infiltration, citing a 60-fold jump in the number of Chinese visitors entering Taiwan using altered or falsified documents.
DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that based on the National Immigration Agency’s records, the number of Chinese entering Taiwan using altered and falsified documents rose from nine in 2012 to 76 last year and further to 535 in the first half of this year.
Chen said the increase in Chinese criminal activity could be an attempt to swing November’s seven-in-one elections in favor of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Identification documents modified or changed included proof of work and bank savings attestations, the agency’s records show.
Chen said that Taiwan has strict limits on the number of Chinese citizens from select cities that can apply for entry as free independent travelers (FIT) in Taiwan; the rest have to show documents to prove that they are either businesspeople, professionals or people seeking aesthetic medical services.
However, with the elections scheduled this year, there has been an explosion in the number of falsified documents, Chen said, adding that this suggested that the Beijing government was systematically trying to get as many people as possible into Taiwan through the loopholes.
Chen added that the agency records showed that there were 2,362 Chinese citizens who had overstayed their visas, but only 49 were arrested. Moreover, a notice on the agency’s Web site showed that it could not find 306 Chinese citizens who had disappeared.
The discrepancy in numbers and the low number of arrests suggest dereliction of duty on the part of the agency, Chen said.
Several agency officials have been arrested recently for allegedly helping foreign women arriving in Taiwan under arranged marriages to find employment at a massage shop in New Taipei City, he added.
Chen called on national security agencies to investigate the matter.
He added that National Security Council Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) should focus on this issue, instead of using intelligence agencies to spy on rival political parties, or over-reaching his authority with his visits to agencies such as the Investigation Bureau, the National Police Agency, the National Immigration Agency, the Coast Guard Administration and the military police.
In response, the NIA said it had convened agency officials earlier this year to investigate the surge in the number of cases involving falsified and altered identification documents, and found the source to be “certain groups” operating on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
The groups have found this to be a lucrative business and have set up networks on both sides of the Strait to facilitate the dispersal of falsified documents among Chinese who visit Taiwan as businesspeople, professionals or people seeking aesthetic medical services, the agency said.
These visitors had come here posing as tourists while engaging in activities that were not within the purview of their visas, the agency said.
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
RSS