The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is to tighten regulations regarding Taiwanese holding official posts in China’s military, government or political parties, adding hundreds of Chinese groups and agencies to its prohibited organizations list.
Article 33 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 Taiwanese cannot hold any position or become a member of Chinese political parties, military, administration or organizations of any political nature listed by the council.
Those who contravene the regulation face a fine of NT$100,000 to NT$500,000, the act says.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The Chinese system of government is complex and the organizational structure sometimes changes, making it impossible to compile an exhaustive list of banned agencies and organizations, the council said.
Beijing has undergone restructuring several times in the past two decades, so it is increasingly difficult for regulations to remain in line with the current situation, it said.
To prevent China from circumventing Taiwan’s regulations, the amended act would ban Taiwanese from holding posts in China’s military, government or any political party and political organization that “is linked to national identity or loyalty,” “conducts united front work against Taiwan” or “is considered a threat to the national security or interests” of Taiwan.
Beijing has in the past few years increased its efforts to promote integration and annexation of Taiwan, as well as to use Taiwanese to influence public opinion, the MAC said.
By recruiting Taiwanese to positions not listed by the council, China aims to create the illusion of cross-strait integration, establish a model for its “united front” campaign and affect public morale, it said.
The amendments are designed to protect national security and stability, and prevent Chinese “united front” efforts and other attempts to infiltrate and divide Taiwan, it said.
The banned list is to include the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots and the Confucius Institute, as well as the People’s Daily (人民日報), the Qiushi Journal (求是雜誌) and the Guang Ming Daily (光明日報).
It would also include the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Academy of Military Sciences, the China Academy of Engineering Physics, the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, the China Democratic League, the China National Democratic Construction Association, the China Association for Promoting Democracy, the Chinese Peasants’ and Workers’ Democratic Party, the China Zhi Gong Party, the Jiusan Society and the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League.
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
RSS