MAC condemns China’s efforts to issue Chinese ID cards to Taiwanese citizens

Taipei: According to the Taipei Times, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has denounced China’s attempts to provide Taiwanese nationals with Chinese identification cards, claiming that the move is an attempt to give Taiwan the appearance of legal sovereignty.

The goal of Beijing’s approach, according to MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng, is to convert Taiwanese citizens to Chinese citizens, which might be used as a justification for further military action against Taiwan.

A recent video featuring an interview with Lin Jincheng, the director of the Taiwan Youth Entrepreneurship Park in Quanzhou, China, by YouTuber Pa Chiung is the source of the issue. According to Lin, throughout the previous ten years, 200,000 Taiwanese have acquired Chinese ID cards.

In a cautious response, Chiu said that the government is unable to independently confirm the numbers but promised that the matter will be addressed with caution. According to Chiu, 679 Taiwanese people have had their Taiwanese papers revoked during the last 10 years after obtaining Chinese passports or identification cards.

Additionally, Chiu cautioned Taiwanese nationals from applying for Chinese ID cards due to the lack of security for their personal information in China. As a result, Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior has directed district offices to follow Taiwanese legislation when dealing with local authorities who are Chinese nationals. According to Taipei Times, the Ministry has discovered five such instances, which are being handled in accordance with the Household Registration Act and the Nationality Act.

The ministry also made it clear that Chinese nationals who marry Taiwanese citizens must give up their foreign citizenship in order to engage in political activity, according to Taiwanese law. Due to this law, Shi Xueyan, a former councillor for Nantou County, was recently fired for failing to renounce her Chinese nationality within a year of holding office.

The rule guarantees that elected officials exclusively possess Taiwanese citizenship, and noncompliance leads to dismissal from office, according to Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang. This requirement has been the subject of many notifications from the Ministry.

The government’s measures have drawn criticism from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which claims that 300,000 Chinese spouses have had their political rights taken away. KMT lawmaker Weng Hsiao-ling contended that all Chinese citizens need to be regarded as Taiwanese citizens as well, claiming that the removal of the ability to hold public office is an illegal “two-state theory.”

However, according to Taipei Times, MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh denied these charges and said that the government’s actions were compliant with the law.

Concerned about the sensitive nature of biometric data, such as fingerprints and face recognition, needed for Chinese residence applications, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has persisted in warning the people not to provide China personal information.