Taiwan to conduct routine ID checks on core government personnel
Starting on Jan. 1 next year, the government will ramp up checks to ensure that people who work in key government positions do not hold IDs from China, including Hong Kong and Macau. The measure applies to workers in the military, public education system and civil service. The matter was brought up at a regular press event by the Mainland Affairs Council on Thursday. The spokesperson stressed that the enforcement of the law is in no way a test of people’s loyalty to the country.
Internet celebrity Holger Chen just returned from another seven-day trip to China’s Greater Bay Area. On his last day, he complained that he couldn’t get authenticated on Chinese Tiktok to do livestreams, costing him NT$4 million.
Liang Wen-chieh
MAC spokesperson
According to their regulations, you can’t have extensive tattoos and you can’t make vulgar content either. In Holger Chen’s case, it’s not surprising that he’d be refused. Perhaps he isn’t bootlicking hard enough. He needs to work harder, that way maybe he’ll get the green light.
At the regular press event, the council also presented results of a council-led poll. 74.3% of respondents said that the ROC and the PRC are not subordinate to each other. Another 74.5% said that public servants should not be allowed to hold IDs of the Mainland Area. Starting 2026, checks will be ramped up for core personnel in the military, education system and civil service to check whether they hold IDs from China, Hong Kong or Macau.
Liang Wen-chieh
MAC spokesperson
We’re now targeting core personnel. As for others, we’ll take it one step at a time, and determine later which categories of government personnel should be included. The checks should not be taken to be so called “loyalty checks.” The Cross-Strait Act also stipulates that it is prohibited to employ or continue to employ people of the Mainland Area to work without permission or beyond the scope of the permission. Any violation of that law will result in criminal penalties.
The spokesperson also responded to a question regarding the interior ministry’s recently proposed amendment that would allow it to refuse restoring Taiwan citizenship to those who had previously lost it after obtaining Mainland Chinese IDs. If passed, the three qualifying criteria to be met by those individuals would include making significant contributions to Taiwan’s national defense, international image or social stability, or benefiting Taiwan’s overall interests.
Liang Wen-chieh
MAC spokesperson
Taiwan citizenship is really precious. It’s not like you can get it just because you want to, and you can discard it just because you want to. These conditions had always been our standard when determining whether a former national should regain their Taiwan identity. We’re only making it explicit now.
The new policies are introduced to implement the president’s 17 major strategies to respond to national security and united front threats Taiwan currently faces.
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2025-08-21
