Mainland Affairs Council (Taiwan) · Full chronicle and history

On October 31, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council announced that from January 1, 2024, to October 30, 2026, a total of 466 Taiwan residents have gone missing, been detained for questioning, or are suspected of having their personal freedom restricted while visiting China. Among them, 177 are missing, 43 were detained for questioning, and 246 were imprisoned, with five new cases added in just the past eight days.

Before the nine-in-one elections, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council continues to maintain an orange travel alert for mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, advising citizens to avoid non-essential travel; the Taiwan Affairs Office stated that cross-strait personnel exchanges increased by 22% year-on-year in the first half of the year, claiming that Taiwanese citizens can travel to the mainland safely as long as they do not violate the law.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council and National Immigration Agency denied Chinese actor Zhang Linghe entry into Taiwan; he had planned to hold a fan meeting in Taipei.

Taiwanese prosecutors indicted a suspect who allegedly, at China's instigation, plotted to ram a vehicle into an entertainer, while Taiwan's foreign ministry and the Mainland Affairs Council issued statements condemning cross-border repression.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council stated that because Zhang Linghe had repeatedly posted content demeaning Taiwan's status and the purpose of his application was unclear, it did not approve his application to hold events in Taiwan, and it pushed back against the Taiwan Affairs Office over the deliberate ramming incident involving Huang Yihao.

In response to the Taiwan Affairs Office's renewed sanctions against the foreign trade company of Puma Shen's father, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council Chair Chiu Chui-cheng and Deputy Chair Liang Wen-chieh responded publicly, characterizing it as "blatant election interference" and mocking the Chinese Communist Party for "doing more harm than good."

Taiwan Presidential Office spokesperson Kuo Ya-hui on Monday thanked the United States for protecting Taiwanese citizens and condemned the Chinese Communist Party's transnational repression, while the Mainland Affairs Council said the number of people subjected to transnational repression targeting Taiwan has reached at least 126.

On October 6, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng, speaking about the case of suspected surveillance of Lai Ching-te's family in the United States, said that existing laws are insufficient to counter acts such as being directed by the Chinese side to tail and film them and collect personal information, that the government is revising laws including the Anti-Infiltration Act, and that guidelines for nationwide assistance against transnational repression will be established as soon as possible.

On October 1, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council stated that multiple incidents of impersonating Guan Jianzhong, the Taiwan distributor of the documentary "Immortal," to send threatening messages externally have systematic characteristics, and the cases are temporarily classified as transnational repression; judicial authorities are still investigating the identities of those behind the scenes.

After China's new entry and exit regulations were implemented on September 15, Shen Yu-chung, Deputy Minister of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), warned that grassroots officials might prefer to "arrest by mistake rather than let go" during the initial implementation phase. Li Pao-wen, Deputy Secretary-General of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), advised citizens to conduct risk assessments, manage information security, and register their travel details on the MAC website before visiting the mainland, emphasizing that this is not intended to hinder normal cross-strait exchanges.

On September 3, 2026, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council responded to the case of pro-CCP influencer Li Dongxian, who wished to return to Taiwan for family reunion due to illness, stating that Li's Taiwan household registration had been cancelled due to his possession of a mainland ID card, and he must follow the regulations for spouses to enter Taiwan.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council released a poll on August 20 showing that over 80% of Taiwanese people disapprove of 'one country, two systems,' and 70% support maintaining the status quo and rejecting unification.

On August 5, 2026, Chiu Chui-cheng, chairperson of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, announced that the "Taiwan Youth e-Family" platform under the Taiwan Affairs Office would be blocked, saying it illegally collected personal data from young Taiwanese under the guise of job hunting and further study to wage a public opinion war, and mocking mainland China's own soaring youth unemployment rate.

In view of China's implementation of the Exit and Entry Administration Law and the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which treat holders of Mainland Travel Permits for Taiwan Residents as Chinese citizens and increase the risks of cross-border repression and detention, the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have urged Taiwanese citizens to be mindful of personal safety risks when traveling to China.

Liang Wenjie, Deputy Chairperson and spokesperson of the Mainland Affairs Council, said at a press conference that in July there were reports of 10 Taiwanese missing in the mainland, including a group of four traveling together that is currently being detained for unknown reasons.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng revealed that cases of Taiwanese nationals going missing while traveling to the mainland, being detained and questioned, or having their personal freedom restricted under the mainland criminal code continue to rise, with 85 cases accumulated in the first five months of 2026, and called on the public to remain vigilant about personal safety risks when traveling to the mainland.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council issued a ban, building on the existing prohibition against personnel from central government ministries and agencies attending the Strait Forum, to explicitly ban, for the first time, local government civil servants from traveling to attend it, guarding against the Chinese Communist Party using the forum to carry out political united front work and social division against Taiwan.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council announced the revocation of Li Dongxian's Taiwanese nationality, on the grounds that he was found to hold a Chinese identity card.