This month, Sanae Takaichi put the entire region at risk during a debate in the Diet’s budget committee. He explicitly classified the Chinese blockade of Taiwan as an “existential-threat situation” for Japan – a legal status triggering the right of collective self-defense – thereby breaking decades of strategic ambiguity. Beijing’s reaction was sharp. The increasing war of words between China and Japan has attracted everyone’s attention.
But across the Taiwan Strait, a change with far more profound consequences for the status quo has already occurred. It did not occur amid a missile launch or a presidential address, but arose from a single administrative order in a rural settlement in eastern Taiwan.
Purge in Phuli Township
The central figure of the story is Teng Wan-hua, who until recently served as the village chief of Xuetian Village in Fuli Township, Hualien County. Teng is a “mainland spouse” (Lupei), one of approximately 350,000 individuals from mainland China who have married into Taiwanese society. She lived in Taiwan for 28 years, held a Republic of China (ROC) ID card for 17 years, and in 2022, was elected village head for the first time by her neighbors.
But in early August this year, Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior issued a directive effectively ending his career. They demanded that he provide proof that he had renounced his citizenship of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). When she could not provide this – because the PRC does not issue such documents to people it considers its citizens – she was removed from office.
Teng appealed, and late last month, the Hualien County government effectively sided with him and rescinded the expulsion order on the grounds that the central government was demanding the impossible. But the Lai Ching-te administration did not back down. In recent consecutive days, the Ministry of the Interior and the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) cracked down hard, issuing a new, harsher interpretation: If you cannot prove that you are not a PRC citizen, you cannot hold public office in Taiwan.
Yesterday, when pressed by reporters, MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh A eulogy for the political rights of this demographicWhen asked whether the right of mainland spouses to participate in politics had effectively ended, he did not answer, “At present,” he said, “I think that outcome is very likely,”
Administrative “two-state theory”
For decades, the “One China” framework of the ROC Constitution created a unique legal space. Below Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland AreaEnacted in 1992, the PRC is not legally a “foreign country”. This is the “Mainland Area”. Therefore, mainlanders did not have to renounce “foreign citizenship”; They only needed to cancel their mainland household registration (hukou,
This ambiguity allowed for a practical reality. This allowed Taiwan to operate as an independent entity while maintaining its constitutional claim on China.
The Lai Ching-te administration has now weaponized it Nationality Act To break this ambiguity. By invoking Article 20 of Nationality Act-which bars dual citizens from holding public office -against mainland spouses, the Ministry of the Interior is pushing for a new legal jurisprudence:
-
ROC is a sovereign state.
-
Any nationality other than ROC is a “foreign” nationality.
-
Therefore, the PRC is a “foreign country”.
This is an administrative “two-state theory”. Lai Ching-te has not amended the Constitution; They have not held an independence referendum. Instead, he is using administrative power to enforce laws as if the PRC were a foreign nation, treating it similarly to Japan or the United States.
a break with the past
This is completely different from the Tsai Ing-wen era. I am reminded of the case of Xi Xueyan, the mainlander’s wife, who served as Nantou County Councilor from 2021 to 2022. He took office, served his full term, and campaigned for re-election, representing the Kuomintang (KMT) during Tsai’s presidency. While the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) filed complaints during Tsai’s tenure, they did not initiate legal mechanisms to strip her of her position.
As of December 2024, under President Lai Ching-te, the Ministry of the Interior did not retroactively “cancel” Xi Xueyan’s qualifications. Now, with the removal of Teng Wan-hua and the investigation of four other village chiefs in Taipei and Taoyuan, the message is clear. The tolerance for legal ambiguity of the Ma Ying-jeou and even Tsai Ing-wen era is gone forever.
Lai Ching-te has been preparing the ground for this ever since he took office. In March 2025, he classified China as a “foreign hostile power” in national security terms. He has consistently defined cross-Strait relations as “not being subservient to one another.” By demanding that mainlanders “renounce foreign citizenship”, their government is mandating a legal impossibility to achieve a political goal: by law Separating Taiwan and China without the hassle of a constitutional convention.
secret freedom
The timing of the Home Ministry’s tough stance indicates a calculated attack. Sanae Takaichi’s “existential threat” rhetoric was an outright deception. While Chinese diplomats were busy sending angry messages to Tokyo, Taipei set a precedent that fundamentally changes the legal definition of “who is a foreigner.”
Its implications extend far beyond a few village heads. If mainland spouses cannot work as village heads because they are “foreign nationals” of a “hostile power”, can they work as public school teachers? Could they be police officers? By redefining the legal status of the PRC through administrative decree, the Lai administration has opened the door to the widespread exclusion of China-born residents from public life.
This is a classic “salami slicing” strategy. Lai Ching-te cannot change the name of the country without inviting invasion. But he could change the internal rules of the state so that, procedurally and bureaucratically, what remains of “One China” in the ROC constitution becomes a dead letter.
Beijing will definitely hit back
Beijing has been temporarily distracted by the noise coming from Japan. But when the dust settles, the leadership in Zhongnanhai will immediately realize that the Lai Ching-te government is moving by law Taiwan’s independence agenda secretly and ruthlessly.
China has long relied on the notion that economic and social integration – the “two sides of the strait are one family” narrative – will eventually lead to unification. Lai Ching-te’s actions are strangulating that path. If mainland spouses are legally branded as “foreigners” with “dual loyalty” problems who must be removed from even the lowest level local government positions, there is no “integration” to speak of. There is only “us” and “them”.
Beijing’s reaction will likely be more than anger directed at Sanae Takaichi. We should expect China to retaliate not only militarily but also legally – perhaps even criminalizing the Taiwanese officials who executed these “separatist” administrative orders.
My name is Jonathan Chen. My career has been defined by a rare privilege: seeing China’s most important stories from both sides.
First, as an outsider breaking the news. Again, as the insider managing the narrative.
As an investigative reporter for China’s most respected outlets, including southern metropolitan daily and this 21st Century Business HeraldMy job was to reveal the truth. I was the first reporter in China to expose this neil heywood poisoning case and exposed other major scandals affecting the country’s political landscape, earning several news awards. My work started after internship in the new York Times‘Shanghai Bureau.
Then, I went inside.
For more than a decade, I led brand and public relations for major corporations, including real estate giants Vanke And, more recently, as Head of public relations for a Hong Kong-listed gaming company,
I learned how China’s real estate, Internet, and AI industries In fact Operating from within. I wasn’t just observing; I was in the room.
This Substack is where my two worlds collide.
I am not a ‘China watcher’ from a distance. I am not one to spread rumours. I’m an analyst with a source list built over two decades – first as a reporter, now as an industry leader.
When you subscribe, you get high-signal, low-noise analysis you can’t get anywhere else:
-
deep dive In China’s political-economic trends, Internet regulation, and AI industry.
-
Not just news, insights: I connect the dots between public policy, corporate strategy, and market movements based on verifiable information and executive-level sourcing.
-
The “How It Works” Perspective: Understanding the hidden logic of China’s property sector, sports industry and more.
My analysis is often sought by major outlets Bloomberg, Nikkei Asia and ReutersAnd I am a regular guest of The Paper,
If you’re tired of the noise and want reliable, high-fidelity insights, you’ve found the right place.