Divided loyalties? 62 Taiwanese military members found with Chinese residency permits

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - In the latest revelation of Chinese influence among the Taiwanese armed forces, at least 62 active-duty Taiwanese service members have been found holding Chinese residency permits, the self-ruled island’s Defense Ministry said.

Since splitting amid civil war in 1949, China has considered Taiwan a renegade province and increasingly relied on "gray area" tactics to undermine Taiwan's will to resist on top of its threat of a military invasion.

Such residency permits give the holder the right to reside in China, potentially an option in case of an outbreak of hostilities. China, which does not recognize Taiwan passports, also issues a special document allowing Taiwanese to visit the mainland.

Holding such documents is legal in Taiwan, but can affect access to sensitive information. The 62 active-duty service members will be barred from handling intelligence and confidential data, Defense Minister Wellington Koo told a legislative hearing on Wednesday.

Koo said no service members were found to have a Chinese passport or resident identity card, which would denote Chinese citizenship and force them to give up their Taiwanese citizenship, which entails visa-free status in many countries and access to Taiwan’s generous welfare benefits.

Taiwan has 150,00 active military personnel and another 1.6 million in the reserves.

Taiwan’s population of 23 million includes around 2 million who fled or whose parents or grandparents fled to Taiwan with Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists ahead of the takeover of mainland China by Mao Zedong’s Communists. One of Mao’s key strategies was to infiltrate the Nationalist troops and officer corps with men and women loyal to him.

Many still maintain emotional or financial ties to the mainland, making the formation of a coherent Taiwanese identity a constant challenge, although the vast majority of the population favors the current status of de-facto independence along with a strong defense, aided by close partner the United States.

While seeking to close such loopholes, Taiwan has also extended mandatory military training for all service-age males and acquired new sophisticated jet fighters and ground weapons.