50 may lose Taiwan household status over China links: Immigration agency

Taipei, Nov. 2 (CNA) Taiwan's National Immigration Agency (NIA) said Sunday that "about 50" people have been reported to household registration offices for revocation of their Taiwanese household status after evidence confirmed they held household registration in China or had obtained Chinese passports.

The NIA's continuing investigation into Taiwanese nationals who have illegally registered in China or received Chinese identity documents is conducted in the context of President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) 17 strategies that address five major threats to national security and the Chinese Communist Party's "united front" influence operations.

Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said in March that Taiwanese found holding a Chinese identity card would have their Taiwan identity card revoked.

She said the MOI would also notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the NIA and household registration offices to cancel related identification and travel documents, including national health insurance, ID cards and passports.

Separately, NIA officials told reporters about 12,000 former Chinese nationals living in Taiwan have been asked to provide proof of loss of their original household registration.

As of Oct. 29, a total of 7,835 people had submitted the required documents, while 2,317 had received extensions or made declarations, and 1,388 who had been abroad long-term were placed under registry management.

The officials also said that the completion rate for processing these cases has reached 95.1 percent.

The agency went on to say that 16 Chinese nationals who gained Taiwanese identity documents due to marriage with Taiwanese citizens have voluntarily given up their "Taiwan identity" for different reasons, including access to social benefits or inheritance rights in China, or following the death of their Taiwanese spouse.