An investigation that concluded last month found that 62 members of the military held Chinese residence permits, including two volunteer service members, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today.
None of the service members had Chinese passports, identification cards or permanent residency status, he told lawmakers at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
Those members have been barred from combat operation centers and all units that handle sensitive information, such as intelligence collection, information and communications, and research and development, he said.
Photo: Taipei Times
They also cannot act as aides to commanding officers, he added.
Those with Chinese residency are also prevented from serving in aviation or naval units, and cannot operate new weapons systems, Koo said.
Asked whether Taiwan would strengthen cooperation with the US in shipbuilding and ship-repair operations, Koo declined to comment, although he said that Taiwan “intends to do so.”
Reports broke in February that a sailor surnamed Yang (楊) had obtained a Chinese identification card without his knowledge after his mother, a Chinese national who gained Taiwanese residency after marriage, applied on his behalf.
Yang expressed his wish to renounce his Chinese citizenship.
In recent days, the Ministry of National Defense said it had helped Yang declare his intent to retain Taiwanese nationality to the National Immigration Agency.
Yang has also been reassigned to a position that does not involve sensitive or classified information, it said.
In the future, the screening process would be tightened to require volunteer service members to declare upon application that they hold no dual nationality or residency, it said.
Moreover, the committee today reviewed draft amendments to the Act of Military Service for Officers and Non-commissioned Officers of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍軍官士官服役條例).
The amendments would strip the military pensions of service members convicted of and subsequently imprisoned for rebellion, treason or contraventions of the National Security Act (國安法) during active service or after retirement.
As numerous cases have recently been exposed of espionage within the military, some legislators have questioned whether counterintelligence personnel and resources are inadequate.
Koo said that on Jan. 1, he approved 54 additional positions for the counterintelligence unit, and personnel are currently being recruited to fill this quota.
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