Taiwan tries to purge its ranks of China sympathizers

For the first time since President Lai Ching-te launched a campaign against what he described as Chinese infiltration in Taiwan, authorities said last week that they were taking action against a teacher who obtained permanent residence status in China, a step short of citizenship.

Lai has made the preservation of Taiwan’s self-rule a political rallying cry, pressing for a military buildup to ward off a potential Chinese invasion and for civilians to increase their vigilance against Beijing, which considers the island to be part of its territory.

After a March speech in which Lai declared that China is a “foreign adversary," authorities began asking military personnel to declare if they possessed documents linking them to the mainland, such as Chinese identification cards, which signify Chinese citizenship. Last week, top offices in Taiwan’s government began a fresh round of staff background checks.

The vetting process is a response to China’s “gray zone" pressure campaign, which ranges from social-media messaging to near-daily displays of military force aimed at convincing people in Taiwan that they would be better off ceding power to Beijing.

Lai stepped up efforts to combat alleged Chinese spying and influence following revelations of a series of espionage cases involving Taiwan’s military, retired officials and former high-level aides.

The hunt for alleged China sympathizers is an indication of the political tilt of Lai and his ruling party, in contrast to an opposition that supports closer ties with Beijing.

China has issued residence permits and identity documents to people from Taiwan who work or live on the mainland, among incentives to encourage investment and promote what Beijing calls “integrated development."

The Chinese approach mirrors Moscow’s issuance of Russian IDs to residents of eastern Ukraine, said Ho Cheng-hui, co-founder of Kuma Academy, a civilian organization focused on Taiwan’s self-defense.

“It’s essentially a strategy of nibbling away and swallowing whole," he said. “It doesn’t look like a large-scale invasion, but over time, they gradually absorb them through these means."

The most likely reason for people in Taiwan to hold Chinese IDs is that they or their parents emigrated from China. On the mainland, identity documents provide certain rights and make it easier to take care of such tasks as opening a bank account.

In the past few weeks, Taiwan expanded the ID-vetting process to local governments, schools and universities, telling administrators to punish employees who hold or have applied for Chinese identity cards but failed to report doing so.

Chiu Chui-cheng of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council says a vetting process has yielded a handful of offenders.

A union in Taiwan representing nearly 80,000 teachers said recently that the screening placed an undue burden on educators and urged the government to limit the checks to those in administrative positions.

“Schools shouldn’t become ‘ATMs’ for government departments" looking to score political points, said Hou Chun-liang of the teachers union.

Since the vetting process began earlier this year, it has yielded a handful of offenders, according to Chiu Chui-cheng, head of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which manages relations with Beijing.

After screening 371,203 military personnel and civil servants, the review identified two employees who had applied for Chinese ID cards and 75 who had sought residence permits in China, Chiu said.

“The number so far has been quite small," said Ja Ian Chong, a political scientist who teaches at National University of Singapore. But, he added, “It is unsurprising that the Lai administration is taking action in response" to increasing Chinese political and military pressure.

“Any government that sees itself as serving the people in Taiwan first and foremost would likely take similar action," he said.

Under Taiwan law, citizens can lose their household registration, effectively meaning losing their citizenship, if they own a Chinese ID card. The government expanded the interpretation of that law in April, declaring that holding a permanent-residence permit in mainland China could also result in the effective revocation of citizenship.

A spokeswoman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office said at the time that Chinese IDs and residency permits were intended as a convenience for people from Taiwan living in China, alleging that Taipei was attempting to “undermine efforts to bring people on both sides of the strait closer together."

In the latest case, Taiwan said last week that it had revoked the citizenship of Chang Li-chi, a teacher at Huaqiao University in Fujian, China. Chang, who was born in Taiwan, obtained a Chinese permanent-residence permit last year, describing it in an online interview as “the realization of a long-pursued and eagerly awaited goal." He also wrote an essay in Chinese state media about his wish to join China’s Communist Party.

Chang, in a video posted on the Chinese platform Toutiao, said Taiwan’s decision was legally groundless and a case of political persecution.

“If he wants to come to Taiwan in the future, he’ll have to apply for an entry permit," said the Mainland Affairs Council’s deputy chief, Liang Wen-chieh.

Write to Joyu Wang at joyu.wang@wsj.com