Taipei: Taiwan’s government is set to begin routine checks on January 1, 2026, to determine if core personnel in the military, education system, and civil service hold Chinese IDs, as announced by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Monday.
According to Focus Taiwan, the MAC highlighted that Taiwanese citizens are prohibited from having household registrations in China or possessing IDs issued by China, in accordance with the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area. The checks aim to uphold the rule of law and prevent unauthorized individuals from holding positions, though details on the execution and responsible parties were not disclosed.
The measure will initially focus on core personnel due to the extensive scale of public service systems and the diverse hiring practices and legal bases among different agencies. Core personnel include government-appointed officials representing government-funded companies and 21 categories of full-time education personnel under the Act Governing the Appointment of Educators. Newly appointed or transferred personnel will undergo screening once the measures are implemented in 2026.
Non-compliance with the new regulations will result in penalties, including prohibitions on signing employment, renewal, or reassignment contracts. The MAC, Taiwan’s leading agency for managing China-related issues, will request cooperation from government institutions and schools to publicize the measure and review relevant employment regulations and documents by the end of 2025.
The MAC plans to hold explanatory sessions across Taiwan alongside the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration, the Ministry of Civil Service, and the Ministry of Education. The agency noted that in recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has challenged the single-ID systems upheld by both sides of the Taiwan Strait, allowing Taiwanese individuals to retain their Taiwanese ID while obtaining a Chinese one. The MAC hopes that military, education, and public service personnel will actively comply with investigations to ensure national safety and bolster public trust in the public sector.