Taiwan’s top China policy maker Andrew Hsia says that Taiwanese citizens visiting China can use either the original paper travel permit, or the new ID card. He was referring to a controversial new identity card that China has begun issuing to Taiwanese visitors, which some say is a security concern.
Hsia, who heads Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), was responding to questions after giving a report at the legislature on Thursday. He said that two thirds of Taiwanese citizens have never been to China, and those who have been before are not necessarily frequent visitors.
“A lot of people only go [to China] once, so they don’t need to apply for the more expensive permit, which is only valid for five years," saud Hsia, "[The new permit] is valid first in 43 points of entry, which offer expedited entry. If people are not willing to apply for the new cards, they will still be able to use the original paper version. So for now, both the card and the paper version are both in use.”
Meanwhile, National Security Bureau Director General Yang Kuo-chiang was also at the legislature on Thursday. He responded to legislators’ concerns about security of the new card.
“The National Security Bureau examined the new ID card as soon as it was released," said Yang, "we suspected that it might contain hidden functions such as location tracking, fingerprint scanning, personal data collection, or a rewritable chipset. After thorough analysis, we find it to be completely identical to the old paper IDs.”
Yang said that the National Security Bureau is continuing to monitor security concerns related to China.