For the Taiwanese, being a citizen of both the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China is not a legal possibility. They are prohibited from having “Chinese citizenship, a Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport.”
The PRC also prohibits dual citizenship. Nevertheless, over the years some Taiwanese have obtained papers from the mainland.
Until now, the number has not seemed to be very great. ROC records indicate that over a period of ten years, “only 679 Taiwanese have had their household registrations, ID cards and passports invalidated after obtaining a Chinese passport or household registration” (“ ‘United front’ tactics intensifying,” Taipei Times, February 7, 2025).
A probe into the matter has been launched as a result of a recent documentary. The result so far is that the ROC government has so far revoked the citizenship of three Taiwanese who had obtained Chinese IDs. This seems slim pickings if the number of Taiwanese willing to become associated with the PRC government is really tens of thousands.
Taiwanese rapper Pa Chiung and YouTuber Chen Po-yuan in December last year released a documentary showing conversations with Chinese “united front” related agency members and warned that there were 100,000 Taiwanese holding Chinese IDs. In the video, a Taiwanese named Lin Jincheng, who is wanted for fraud in Taiwan and has become the head of the Taiwan Youth Entrepreneurship Park in China’s Fujian Province, said that he has been assisting Taiwanese in applying for Chinese IDs. He claimed that more than 200,000 people have obtained Chinese IDs without having to give up their Taiwanese IDs….
The documentary has triggered concerns in Taiwan. In addition to the so-called Taiwan compatriot permit—a Beijing-issued travel document allowing Taiwanese entry into China that is designed to negate the use of a Taiwanese passport—China has in the past few years encouraged Taiwanese to apply for residence permits, which allow them to live and work in China without giving up their Taiwanese citizenship….
These are obviously Chinese “united front” tactics to entice Taiwanese to reside in China and boost its propaganda that Taiwanese are Chinese nationals. China in 2018 boasted that more than 20,000 Taiwanese had applied for residence permits, and last year said that a growing number of Taiwanese had gained Chinese residencies and IDs, without giving figures.
Whatever the real numbers, the problem seems real enough and to be growing. Presumably, the Taiwanese who have obtained Chinese papers and currently reside in China regard themselves as immune to the risk suffered by “diehard” Taiwanese “separatists” whom the Chinese government has promised to murder for being separatists.
