Beijing’s issuing of residency permit cards for people from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, which came into effect yesterday, is part of a ploy to bring Taiwan into China’s political fold, the Mainland Affairs Council said.
The cards, which carry an 18-digit code, look almost identical to Chinese identification cards and are aimed at belittling Taiwan’s sovereignty, the council said.
While Beijing has claimed that the new cards will provide Taiwanese residents in China with better access to public services, the council said that it is part of Beijing’s “united front” strategy, and would only benefit China’s agenda.
Photo: CNA
China is being irresponsible, because it has ignored public concerns over the risks card applicants might face, the council said, calling on Beijing to withdraw its “political ploy” and instead contribute to peaceful development across the Taiwan Strait.
The council has warned Taiwanese against risks to personal privacy, particularly in light of Beijing’s efforts to create a vast network of surveillance cameras and facial recognition systems as a means of social control.
The council said that it will try to find out more about the differences between the new cards, and the temporary residence cards issued to Taiwanese working and living in China.
Photo: CNA
Electronic terminals at railway stations, airports, banks and other places will be able to read the cards, making life easier for cardholders who are studying and working in China, the Chinese State Council has said.
Taiwanese do not need to have household registration in China to apply for the new card, but should have resided in China for more than six months, and must have a stable job and a place of residence.
Taiwan Democracy Watch yesterday in a statement said that by differentiating between household registrations and places of residence, Beijing is attempting to circumvent 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 ), which stipulates: “The people of the Taiwan Area may not have household registrations in the Mainland Area or hold passports issued by the Mainland Area.”
Beijing would gradually force international organizations, and foreign governments and businesses to require Taiwanese to present the new cards on different occasions, forcing Taiwanese to call themselves People’s Republic of China citizens, and thereby claim jurisdiction over Taiwanese, the group said.
The government should restrict or revoke the civic rights of those who apply for the new cards, treat them as dual citizens or enact a separate law to regulate their status, it added.
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
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS