Taiwan cracks down on holders of Chinese ID amid fears over propaganda and espionage
Taiwan has launched a crackdown on holders of illegal Chinese identity documents, revoking the Taiwanese status of more than 20 people and putting tens of thousands of Chinese-born residents under scrutiny.
Under Taiwan law it is illegal for Taiwanese people to hold Chinese identity documents. In the past decade, hundreds of people have had their Taiwanese papers or passports cancelled for also holding Chinese ID, effectively revoking their citizenship.
But a renewed hunt for dual ID-holders has drawn controversy after the public expulsion of three women and threats to the permanent residencies of more than 10,000 Chinese-born people, including many who had built lives and families in Taiwan over decades.
The campaign has sparked a nationwide debate about identity, loyalty and how to balance the island's treasured political freedoms with its national security.
The current furore began in December, with an online documentary revealing local Chinese authorities were secretly offering Chinese IDs to Taiwanese people.
Taiwan's mainland affairs council (MAC) denounced the scheme as 'part of China's evil united front work that attempts to … create an illusion that it has authority over the nation'.
The documentary identified three recipients who had moved to the Chinese province of Fujian and applied for Chinese identity cards.
Su Shih-er was one of the three. He chose the coastal province for its large Taiwanese community and generous government subsidies for entrepreneurs opening 'local' businesses. Soon after arriving, Su learned he could apply for a Chinese identity card.
'I thought it'd be more convenient for my company, so I applied,' he told the Guardian.
What Su did was illegal under Taiwanese law, although he disputes this. To get his Chinese ID card, Su was legally required to have Chinese household registration (known as 'hukou'), which is barred under Taiwan's cross-strait relations act, alongside Chinese passports.
Su, who is still in China, said there are 'loads' of Taiwanese with Fujian IDs, and that he felt 'like a victim of their political games'.
Tensions between Taiwan and China are dangerously high. China's Communist party (CCP) government claims Taiwan as a province and is preparing to take it militarily if it can't convince or coerce it to peacefully 'unify'. Espionage and infiltration by pro-CCP actors – including from Taiwan's society, government, and military – are real and ongoing dangers.
But there are still close ties between the two territories. Figures from 2022 show about 170,000 Taiwanese living in China. About 380,000 Chinese-born people live in Taiwan, many married to Taiwanese people, and about half of them hold permanent residency.
In March Taiwan's president, Lai Ching-te, announced new measures to counter China's malign efforts, which included increased scrutiny of cross-strait travel and resettlement.
In March, three Chinese-born women were accused of using their popular social media accounts to advocate for a hostile Chinese takeover of Taiwan. Taiwan revoked their residency visas and they were forced to leave Taiwan, as well as their Taiwanese husbands and children.
The opposition accused the government of deporting people without due process for views it didn't like. A statement signed by dozens of local academics said President Lai was 'rapidly compressing the space for free speech'.
But government figures said the posts were essentially enemy war propaganda, exempt from free-speech protection. Premier Cho Jung-tai told reporters: 'There are limits to freedom of speech, and the limits are the country's survival.' The deportations also seemed to have social support, and at a press conference held by one of the women, a crowd chanted 'go home!'.
The case highlighted 'the unique dilemma of Taiwan's existence', wrote two local academics, Michelle Kuo and Albert Wu.
'Imagine a world where an ally of China expels a Taiwanese immigrant for advocating Taiwanese independence. We would fight to the death for that person to stay in the country,' said Wu and Kuo.
But, they added: 'Taiwan is under exceptional threat. Can we apply human rights principles around family unity and freedom of speech when facing such a massive danger?'
The Taiwan government's next move proved even more controversial. As it became clear the number of people holding or seeking Chinese IDs was larger than anticipated, authorities decided to sweep the island.
'If the identities of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are not clearly distinguished, it will affect the national security and social stability of our country,' it said.
In March the MAC sent questionnaires to public sector workers, university employees and military personnel, asking them if they ever held Chinese ID. The MAC described the survey as an opportunity to 'demonstrate their loyalty'.
Then, earlier this month, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) began contacting more than 10,000 Chinese-born spouses in Taiwan, claiming they had never provided proof they had given up their Chinese hukuo – a requirement for permanent residency.
Social media filled with angry posts from affected people and their families, saying they felt targeted and suddenly unwelcome. Among them were people who had moved to Taiwan decades ago, before such proof was required.
Rescinding hukou can only be done in person, in China. Some commenters pointed to the case of Li Yanhe, a Chinese-born, Taiwan-based publisher of critical books about the CCP. In 2023 Li was arrested in Shanghai, reportedly there to rescind his hukou. Convicted of unspecified acts of 'inciting secession', he remains in a Chinese jail.
One woman posted to Threads a recording of a call between her mother and the NIA. Her mother told the NIA agent she had given proof to another agency when she arrived 22 years ago. But the agent said they had no record, and threatened to strip her Taiwanese rights and residency if she failed to cooperate.
'My mother has become an international football,' her daughter posted.
In another case, a woman said her mother – who had lived her for 33 years – had also received a demand for proof.
'My mother has a Taiwanese ID card, a Taiwanese passport and has paid labour insurance and health insurance and taxes for more than 30 years. She is a Taiwanese!' the woman said.
The MAC deputy head, Liang Wen-chieh, said last week they were demonstrating 'utmost leniency towards such individuals'. But amid an outcry the government announced case-by-case exemptions, including for people who are elderly, haven't returned to China in more than 10 years, or feared persecution if they did.
The new campaign has so far resulted in at least 19 people being stripped of Taiwanese papers – and citizenship if they held it – for having Chinese ID.
The NIA, told the Guardian those who cancelled their Chinese hukou could apply for permission to 'restore their [Taiwan] status' and come back.
But critics worry that the crackdown is only further dividing Taiwan's already fractious society.
'It is obvious that a negative impact is to tear Taiwan apart and push people to the opposite side, which is of no benefit to Taiwan's security,' said Prof Liu Mei-jun, of Taiwan's national Chengchi university.
During the furore over the deported influencers, academics Kuo and Wu warned that the government 'may have inadvertently handed Beijing an easy propaganda victory'.
China's state media has already seized on the cases, accusing Taiwan's ruling DPP of 'tearing families apart'. The Taiwan Affairs Office accused the DPP of bullying, and only applying the idea of 'freedom' to those who supported Taiwan independence.
The Guardian's conversations with people in or close to the government have revealed a perplexity over the backlash, and a belief that any concerns are outweighed by the need to address any vulnerability China could exploit.
'More than 360,000 Chinese spouses live in Taiwan today,' Kuo and Wu wrote in their essay. 'While they may appear to be a demographic minority, their family networks make up a significant portion of society – one the government now risks alienating.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Guardian
17 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Beijing-appointed Panchen Lama holds rare meeting with Chinese leader
Gyaltsen Norbu, who is rarely seen in public, met behind closed doors with Mr Xi in Zhongnanhai, the government compound in the centre of Beijing, about 2,300 miles from his home monastery of Tashilhumpo, high on the Tibetan steppe. The 35-year-old said he would 'firmly support the leadership of the Communist Party of China and resolutely safeguard the unity of the motherland and national unity', the Xinhua News Agency reported. The Chinese government appointed him as the Panchen Lama of Tibetan Buddhism in 1995 at age five after followers of the Dalai Lama recognised a different boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the Panchen's incarnation. That boy and his family disappeared in 1995 in what the US government has alleged was an abduction by the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama, 89, has refused to recognise the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama. The Chinese government says Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is now a college graduate living a private life and working a stable job, while producing no evidence. The Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama was quoted on Friday by Xinhua as saying he would 'contribute to promoting national unity and progress, systematically promote the sinicisation of religion in China, and promote the modernisation of Tibet'. Mr Xi's government uses the term 'sinicisation' to mean that all religions including Christianity and Islam must take their orders from the Communist Party, reduce their non-Chinese aspects and limit their role in society. Mr Xi was quoted as telling the Chinese government's Panchen that he should continue Tibetan Buddhism's 'strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, systematically advancing the sinicisation of religion in China, and promoting the modernisation of Tibet'. Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement marking the 30th anniversary of the disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, saying he and his family had been abducted by the Chinese government. 'Chinese authorities should release Gedhun Choekyi Nyima immediately and stop persecuting Tibetans for their religious beliefs,' Mr Rubio's statement read. The position of Panchen Lama is especially sensitive since he is expected to take part in the recognition of a new Dalai Lama and serve as his tutor, a religious process that the officially atheist Communist Party is determined to control. The meeting on Friday also reflected Mr Xi's focus on economic and political stability within China's borders, where an economic slump has raised concerns of anti-government outbursts and control over minority groups is an overwhelming obsession.
New Statesman
an hour ago
- New Statesman
James Cleverly's shadow Tory leadership bid heats up
Photo byIs James Cleverly making another bid for the Conservative leadership? That's certainly how his speech at the Conservative Environment Network's Sam Barker Memorial Lecture on Wednesday night, in which he talked about 'rejecting both the Luddite left and the Luddite right', has been interpreted by Tory watchers. 'James Cleverly takes on Kemi Badenoch over decision to ditch net zero targets', read the Guardian headline. The Mail went with 'Kemi Badenoch faces Net Zero revolt as Tory big beast James Cleverly warns her to ignore climate change 'luddites''. The Telegraph, meanwhile, wrote it up as 'Former home secretary directly challenges Kemi Badenoch on net zero'. Cleverly himself has pushed back hard against the suggestion that his speech was in any way a rebuke of the current Tory leader, calling it 'fake news'. In a punchy Twitter thread, he pointed out that he never once mentioned the term 'net zero' in the speech (he also didn't mention Badenoch), and claimed protecting the environment ('like Margaret Thatcher once did') was 'in our economic and security interests'. Indeed, the text of the speech itself was far more about foreign policy (in particular the threat of Chinese dominance and mass migration caused by climate change) than it was about carbon emission targets. But the fractured state of the Conservative party is such that any intervention from a high-profile figure will be read as a tacit (or not so tacit) criticism of Kemi Badenoch's leadership and attempt at positioning to be her successor. That applies to Cleverly's environmental speech just as much as it applies to Robert Jenrick's viral videos on confronting fare-dodgers on the London Underground. It is the latter who has drawn the most attention in the seven months since Badenoch became leader. Partly, this is due to the fact that Jenrick was the runner-up, after a mix-up over vote-swapping meant Cleverly was knocked up before he had the chance to face the membership. Partly it's down to Jenrick's place in the shadow cabinet, whereas Cleverly has taken a break from frontbench politics. And partly it's to do with visibility – once dubbed 'a very ambitious blur' by Andrew Marr, no one watching Jenrick's frenetic activity in opposition has any doubt that he still covets the top job. Jenrick's stance, in the leadership contest and since, has been to shift rightwards and attempt to neutralise Nigel Farage by moving onto Reform's turf. But as the Tory party grapples with having to rebuild from an election calamity that saw it lose hundreds of seats to Labour and the Liberal Democrats, Cleverly's name is increasingly being whispered by moderate Conservatives anxious about both the polls and the Reform-wards tilt. Cleverly's positioning as the 'One Nation' candidate in the 2024 leadership race came as something of a surprise to those close to him. A Brexit-backer first appointed to the role of foreign secretary by Liz Truss, he assumed the role of the moderates' champion almost by default, with both Jenrick and Badenoch running from the right. One friend in the party described his politics as 'to the left of Kemi, but not by much – his heroes are Thatcher and Regan', and called the One Nation label 'grossly simplistic'. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe But it is true that Cleverly saw himself as a unifier, someone who could bring different strands of the party together after its worst ever defeat and who understood that parties can only win by building a broad coalition of support. Another ally said his pitch to the membership, had he got to that stage, would have been to argue there is more mileage in listening to voters who abandoned the Conservatives over concerns about competence and values rather than chasing people who have found a new home in Reform. At the time, the received consensus was that Tory members always pick the more right-wing candidate of the pair offered to them and would do again. That consensus is the reason Jenrick is the now bookies' favourite, seen as the likeliest successor to Badenoch. But something interesting may be happening to the Conservative membership. Tory members are notoriously hard to poll (we don't even know how many there are), but Reform now claims to have over 200,000. A substantial chunk of these are understood to be former Tories who have quit the party since the 2024 election. That will inevitably have shifted the internal dynamics among those who remain, perhaps to the extent that more moderate members – those repelled by Farage who find Jenrick's talk of some kind of pact with Reform anathema – now hold the majority. A Cleverly candidacy now, I was told by an active member in one local association, would have a much higher chance of success than in autumn 2024. (Others have different perspectives.) The parliamentary party too is more nuanced than current narratives about the Tories' rightwards tilt suggest. In the penultimate round of MP voting, the two candidates coded as more centrist – Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat – received 59 votes together; Jenrick and Badenoch got a combined 61. (On the environmental front, the Conservative climate caucus in parliament boasts 49 MPs.) A former Tory MP referred to the remaining One Nation cohort as the 'sleeping giant' of the Conservative party – a group that, were it to band together, could be a serious force in parliament. It will not have escaped their notice that the Tories are spiralling situation under Badenoch. A poll last month put the Conservatives fourth – below Reform, Labour and the Lib Dems – on a popularity level not seen since 2019 and Theresa May's Brexit deadlock. One Tory insider called the figures 'extinction-level'. Some Conservatives are getting desperate: rumours are swirling of various plots to oust Badenoch, possibly even before her year's grace period as leader is up in November. A Survation poll last week suggested 60 per cent of 2024 Conservative voters thought bringing back Boris Johnson would be better than keeping Badenoch as leader. Against this backdrop, any signs of dissent are being seized upon. Earlier this week, eight Tory MPs (including Father of the House Edward Leigh) wrote to Keir Starmer saying they would support him if the government were to move to recognise a Palestinian state – another move interpreted as an attempt to 'defy' Badenoch. Cleverly gave his Conservative Environment Network speech the following day, and was similarly read as a rebuke. The rumour persists that a coup is just around the corner, and every intervention plays into that narrative. Any hint of a Cleverly revival, however, should be tempered with a few caveats, both personal and political. His wife Susie, who is herself much loved in Conservative circles, came through a difficult battle with an aggressive form of breast cancer two years ago, which would caution anyone considering what's widely considered one of the worst jobs in politics to think twice. 'I'm not sure he's really been able to be in that headspace,' was the assessment of one friend. More generally, while frustration with Badenoch is growing, even her fiercest critics acknowledge that changing leaders yet again would do 'irreparable damage' to the already wounded party and be 'a colossal act of self-harm'. And that's without taking into considering how difficult it is to rebuild so soon after an election. One former MP who lost their seat in July put it bluntly: 'She's doing an impossible job badly.' Even Jenrick, for all his obvious ambition, doesn't want a leadership challenge now. His video efforts are aimed firmly at attacking Labour figures (Keir Starmer, Richard Hermer, Sadiq Khan). Yes they can be viewed obliquely as presenting an alternative pattern for leadership, but it isn't Badenoch in the direct crosshairs. Axing a leader so soon would fuel Labour and Reform narratives that the Tory party is too dysfunctional to be taken seriously, and the new leader – whether Jenrick, Cleverly, or someone else entirely – would be facing the exact same challenges and the same uphill battle. Boris Johnson has in past years likened himself to Cincinnatus, the Roman statesman who 'returned to his plough' after leading the state at a time of crisis and was then called back to assume power a second time. But years before that the then London mayor described his ambition to be PM with the line that 'Obviously, if the ball came loose from the back of a scrum – which it won't – it would be a great, great thing to have a crack at.' A passionate rugby fan himself, this was the comparison made by several people close to Cleverly about his leadership hopes. That doesn't mean that the former home secretary was clueless as to how his speech might be interpreted. One of the major criticisms of Badenoch is not merely the direction in which she seems to be taking the Tories, but the fact this seems to be down to 'drift' as opposed to a conscious and deliberate strategy, leaving the party undefined and chaotic. 'The first stage of surviving is defining yourself,' one centrist Tory put it. They then quoted the line from the musical Les Miserables: 'It is time for us all to decide who we are.' Cleverly's bold defence of a Conservative environmental agenda – one that takes in both economic and national security concerns – should be read, they argued, as a reminder that there is another way of doing leadership, one that isn't afraid of taking stances that come with trade-offs, 'and someone has to be a flag-bearer for it'. Finally, there is the personality issue. While Badenoch's management style veers towards abrasive and her media appearances lack cut-through, Cleverly is respected from all wings of the party as a strong media performer who can bring people together. 'James was pointing out that charismatic leaders are available,' one Tory insider quipped. 'He can't help being likeable and human.' What the speech does reveal is how far perceptions of the Tory party have travelled in a very short space of time. When Badenoch announced the party's U-turn on net zero in March, Sam Hall, director of the Conservative Environment Network, noted the decision 'undermines the significant environmental legacy of successive Conservative governments'. Six years ago Theresa May was signing the UK's net zero commitments into law; three and a half years ago Boris Johnson was championing Britain's climate leadership at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow. Back then, Cleverly's insistence that 'the idea that we must choose between a strong economy and protecting our environment is outdated and wrong' or support of climate commitments as 'defences against energy shocks and geopolitical instability' would not have been considered remotely controversial in Tory circles. Now, it's interpreted as a leadership challenge. And until the situation improves the Conservatives, so will everything else. [See also: Kemi Badenoch is in a hole – and she keeps digging] Related
South Wales Argus
an hour ago
- South Wales Argus
Beijing-appointed Panchen Lama holds rare meeting with Chinese leader
Gyaltsen Norbu, who is rarely seen in public, met behind closed doors with Mr Xi in Zhongnanhai, the government compound in the centre of Beijing, about 2,300 miles from his home monastery of Tashilhumpo, high on the Tibetan steppe. The 35-year-old said he would 'firmly support the leadership of the Communist Party of China and resolutely safeguard the unity of the motherland and national unity', the Xinhua News Agency reported. The Chinese government appointed him as the Panchen Lama of Tibetan Buddhism in 1995 at age five after followers of the Dalai Lama recognised a different boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the Panchen's incarnation. That boy and his family disappeared in 1995 in what the US government has alleged was an abduction by the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama, 89, has refused to recognise the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama. Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) receives Gyaltsen Norbu as Wang Huning, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, looks on (Yan Yan/Xinhua via AP/PA) The Chinese government says Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is now a college graduate living a private life and working a stable job, while producing no evidence. The Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama was quoted on Friday by Xinhua as saying he would 'contribute to promoting national unity and progress, systematically promote the sinicisation of religion in China, and promote the modernisation of Tibet'. Mr Xi's government uses the term 'sinicisation' to mean that all religions including Christianity and Islam must take their orders from the Communist Party, reduce their non-Chinese aspects and limit their role in society. Mr Xi was quoted as telling the Chinese government's Panchen that he should continue Tibetan Buddhism's 'strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, systematically advancing the sinicisation of religion in China, and promoting the modernisation of Tibet'. Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement marking the 30th anniversary of the disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, saying he and his family had been abducted by the Chinese government. 'Chinese authorities should release Gedhun Choekyi Nyima immediately and stop persecuting Tibetans for their religious beliefs,' Mr Rubio's statement read. The position of Panchen Lama is especially sensitive since he is expected to take part in the recognition of a new Dalai Lama and serve as his tutor, a religious process that the officially atheist Communist Party is determined to control. The meeting on Friday also reflected Mr Xi's focus on economic and political stability within China's borders, where an economic slump has raised concerns of anti-government outbursts and control over minority groups is an overwhelming obsession.
