A Taiwanese district court judge vacationing in China was tracked down and interrogated at his hotel by Chinese public security officers, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) revealed on July 9, warning that Beijing's scrutiny of visiting Taiwanese officials now reaches well beyond military and intelligence personnel. In the same week, 10 more Taiwanese nationals were reported missing after traveling to China, pushing the total number of missing, detained, or movement-restricted travelers since 2024 to 385.
MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh disclosed the cases at the council's regular press briefing in Taipei. The MAC is the cabinet-level agency responsible for Taiwan's policy toward China.
Officers Knew the Judge's Identity Before Knocking
According to Liang, the judge — from an unnamed district court — was traveling in northern China in April when three public security officers arrived at his hotel to question him. The officers asked about his occupation, the differences between the judicial systems on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and his impressions of China, and urged him to promote cross-strait exchanges.
What alarmed the council most was that the questioning was not a random check. "The mainland public security officers already knew the judge's identity beforehand," Liang said. "The questioning was mainly to verify whether the information they had gathered in advance was correct."
Nearly Half of Those Detained Are Civil Servants
Liang used the case to renew a standing warning to Taiwan's public sector. Between 2024 and June this year, 30 travelers were reported detained or questioned by Chinese authorities, and 14 of them — 46.6% — were civil servants.
Chinese state security officers typically probe visiting officials about the purpose of their trip, their views of China, their work in Taiwan, and their relationships with colleagues, Liang said. Officers also inspect their phones and press them to add WeChat contacts so they can be reached later.
Because the latest case involves a judge, the council considers it a new frontier. Recent detentions and interrogations are no longer limited to Taiwanese military, police, or personnel handling classified material, but have extended to rank-and-file civil servants with no access to state secrets, Liang said. His advice was blunt: civil servants should not travel to China unless on official business.
Ten More Travelers Lose Contact in a Single Week
The 10 newly reported missing travelers went to China under widely varying circumstances, Liang said. Four traveled together as a group and all lost contact; one went to visit relatives and another to look for work; the reasons for the remaining four trips are unknown. The government is working through available channels to locate them.
The numbers have climbed steadily. MAC statistics recorded 361 Taiwanese missing, detained, or subjected to restrictions on their movement in China between 2024 and the end of May this year. The figure rose to 374 by the end of June, and this week's 10 missing cases and the judge's interrogation bring the running total to 385.
