The Ministry of the Interior on Friday tightened regulations on civic groups that plan to invite Chinese professionals to Taiwan, citing legal and security concerns.
Applications for Chinese to enter Taiwan for professional exchanges are governed by the Regulations on Permission for Entrance of People of the Mainland Area Into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入臺灣地區許可辦法).
In a news release on Friday, the ministry said it has amended the regulations and raised the thresholds for filing applications.
Civic groups applying to host Chinese visitors should be at least three years old, increased from one year previously, the ministry said.
The groups are required to submit documents proving their legal establishment and substantial operations, such as budget plans, over the previous three years, it said.
The documents should have previously been submitted to the groups’ supervising agencies, it added.
The rules also apply to exchanges for technological research, and artistic and sports training, the ministry said.
These changes aim to prevent shell entities from making illegal profits and to bolster the security management of arrivals, the ministry added.
In 2019, an entity named New Taipei City Water Resources Economic Development Association was found to have arranged sightseeing tours for Chinese officials visiting Taiwan under the pretext of professional exchanges.
Later, 23 people, 12 associations and eight travel agencies involved in the case were handed over to judicial authorities, National Immigration Agency Entry and Exit Affairs division head Lin Yi-chun (林貽俊) said.
Further investigation later that year found that an additional 30 agencies and 252 people had also contravened the regulations, including changing visitors’ plans without notifying authorities and filing false itineraries, Lin said.
In 2019, 31,378 applications were made for Chinese politicians to visit Taiwan for professional exchanges, of which 3,378 were rejected, he said.
Some of the rejected applications were filed by shell organizations, many of which were registered at the same address and made illegal profits through the transactions, Lin said.
The government welcomes normal and orderly interactions across the Taiwan Strait, but any applications for inviting Chinese should be made according to regulations, the ministry said.
The ministry would convene an interagency meeting to review applications when needed, it said.
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