Beijing's border passport trap threatens Taiwanese national rights

Taipei [Taiwan], June 15 : In a move highlighting its stance on cross-strait sovereignty, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has confirmed that Taiwanese citizens who obtain or have previously held Chinese-issued "border tourism passports" will lose their "Taiwan status," Taipei Times reported.

MAC Deputy Head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh cited a 2017 case in which a Taiwanese citizen applied for a three-month "border tourism passport" to visit the China-Russia border. Although the travel permit had expired by the time it came to the MAC's attention, Liang stated that simply holding the document, regardless of its validity period, constituted a legal violation.

According to Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, Taiwanese citizens are prohibited from holding Chinese passports or household registrations in the Mainland Area. Liang emphasised that violating this law leads to loss of Taiwanese citizenship, including household registration and associated civil rights.

This marks the first time Taiwanese authorities have publicly declared that holding a "border tourism passport" carries the same legal consequences as a regular Chinese passport. The travel document in question, formally titled the People's Republic of China Exit and Entry Permit (for border tourism use), is a single-use, three-month permit issued by Chinese authorities to citizens participating in state-approved border tourism programs.

As reported by the Taipei Times, some Taiwanese tourists obtained these low-cost travel documents at border ports, such as Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia, to cross into Russia last winter, lured by the cheaper alternative to a Russian visa. Destinations such as Lake Baikal were among the popular routes.

From the standpoint of the Taiwanese government, whether a Chinese passport is expired or not "makes no difference" as it still constitutes a violation of the law, Liang added.

The MAC's stance reaffirms Taiwan's legal and political red lines amid rising concerns over China's infiltration tactics and identity manipulation strategies.

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