The military is to require volunteer service members to pledge that they hold no other citizenship, after reports that the mother of a navy sailor made him a Chinese national without his knowledge.
The Ministry of National Defense is to issue a document pledging that volunteers do not possess citizenship of another nation before allowing them to join the military, top officers told a routine news conference in Taipei yesterday.
A sailor surnamed Yang (楊) who serves in the 168th Fleet had obtained a Chinese identification card, the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) reported on Monday, citing sources connected to an ongoing probe by the Investigation Bureau.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The sailor’s mother — a Chinese national who gained residency via marriage — had apparently acted without informing Yang, Navy Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Chiu Chun-jung (邱俊榮) said.
Military brass and ministry officials are working on the pledge and making improvements to the vetting system to ensure Taiwan remains the only nationality of volunteers, he said.
Yang joined the navy in April 2020 and formerly served on a Chi Yang-class frigate, but has since been transferred to “a posting that involves fewer sensitive missions,” Chiu said.
The military is working with the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to determine Yang’s next steps, as the man has expressed a wish to renounce his Chinese citizenship, he added.
Legal residents of China are not allowed to serve in the Taiwanese government or military, said army Major General Cheng Chia-chi (成家麒), who heads the human resources division at the ministry’s Department of Resource and Planning.
The rule is stipulated in 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), the Nationality Act (國籍法) and regulations governing the employment of government personnel, he said.
These laws exist for a good reason, as volunteer military personnel are duty-bound to serve the nation, Cheng said.
People with dual citizenship or legal status in China are disqualified from joining the armed forces under existing regulations, said army Colonel Huang Ming-chun (黃銘君), who serves in the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Personnel.
Separately on Tuesday, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) reiterated that active military personnel and civil servants who apply for Chinese identity documents would face the full force of the law, including potentially being stripped of citizenship.
“The MAC has recently convened meetings with relevant agencies and instructed them to promote awareness that active military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers are prohibited from applying for household registration in China, as well as Chinese ID cards, permanent residence permits or residence permits,” the council said in a statement.
Those breaching the cross-strait act would face the full force of the law, it added.
That includes having their household registration canceled and losing their citizenship, the act stipulates.
It also stipulates that they cannot undergo military service or hold public office.
The Naval Fleet Command in a news release on Monday said that the sailor had informed the navy that his mother had obtained a Chinese ID card for him without his knowledge.
The command said it has assisted Yang in applying to the NIA expressing his intent to retain his Taiwanese nationality.
The command added that the NIA “preliminarily classified” Yang as a special case and said it would “handle subsequent matters per the NIA’s review findings and legal procedures.”
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS