Taiwan's top China policy official warned lawmakers on August 5 that a sweeping new set of Chinese exit-entry regulations, set to take effect September 15, are written so vaguely that they could strip ordinary citizens — including Taiwanese who travel to the mainland — of their right to freely leave the country.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang signed the State Council decree issuing the regulation on July 31, according to Xinhua, China's state news agency. Xinhua reported that the rule, formally titled the Regulation on Exit and Entry Administration, is meant to standardize exit and entry management, protect the lawful rights and interests of travelers, and safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests.
Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正), minister of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the cabinet-level body that oversees cross-strait policy, offered a starkly different reading of the same rule. Speaking in a briefing ahead of a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan's parliament, Chiu said Beijing's new rules lack the clear legal standards found in Taiwan's own regulatory system, leaving room for arbitrary enforcement that has already unsettled the public.
Beijing Frames Rule As Protecting Travelers Rights
Under the new framework, Chinese authorities can bar citizens from leaving the country if they are suspected of violating export control rules in ways that could endanger national industrial or technological security — a category officials have not clearly defined. Xinhua's report noted the regulation also spells out application requirements for exit and entry documents, refines unspecified "restrictive measures," and regulates intermediary services connected to exit and entry, without elaborating on what those measures entail.
Beijing Places Travel Under National Security
The regulation also strengthens what Chinese officials call an exit security risk prevention system. Xinhua reported that China's foreign affairs, culture and tourism authorities will promptly and publicly issue overseas safety alerts and risk warnings for tourist destinations, while immigration authorities will remind citizens to exercise caution in high-risk countries or regions both when approving exit and entry document applications and during exit border inspections.
Scholars who have studied the rules note a more significant shift beneath that framing: for the first time, Beijing is formally folding ordinary citizens' overseas travel into its national security governance apparatus, rather than treating it purely as a matter of personal freedom of movement.
That shift carries direct implications for Taiwan. Because Beijing does not recognize the Republic of China passport, Taiwanese who enter the mainland using a Taiwan Compatriot Permit — a travel document Beijing issues to Taiwan residents in place of a visa — are legally classified as Chinese nationals under Chinese law. Academics tracking the policy say that classification means the new exit controls could apply just as easily to Taiwanese visitors as to mainland Chinese citizens.
MAC Chief Says Legal Standards Remain Unclear
Chiu argued that the substance of Beijing's approach is not new, only its codification. "The State Council's release of this new exit-entry regulation will cause public panic. Basically, the Chinese Communist Party has always imposed extremely strict controls on both its own citizens and on foreign visitors. These rules have existed as strict administrative practice for a long time — they are simply putting them into written law now to project an image of governing by law," he said.
The real danger, Chiu said, lies in what the law leaves undefined, a contrast with Beijing's own stated aim of protecting travelers' lawful rights. "Because there are no clearly defined legal requirements and no clear legal norms, ordinary people's rights to enter and exit end up being compromised. That is the real reason this is causing public panic," he told reporters.
Taiwanese Visitors Already Face Strict Mainland Controls
Chiu pointed to existing restrictions as evidence of the pattern he expects to continue. "In fact, we all know that people on the mainland who want to come to Taiwan to study or travel are already subject to Beijing's strict exit-entry controls and cannot freely come here on their own. This tight management has been in place for a long time. The difference is that mainland China, unlike Taiwan, is not governed by a rule-of-law system with clear legal requirements and defined regulatory content. Their rules are extremely vague and broad, and quite arbitrary — they can simply prohibit a person from leaving the country," he said.
Officials Urge Risk Assessment Before September Deadline
Chiu said Beijing's pattern of repeatedly rewriting its national security laws, including exit-entry rules, has steadily raised the risks facing Taiwanese who travel to the mainland. "We want to stress again that in recent years, mainland China has continually overhauled its national security-related laws, including exit-entry regulations, which has increased the risks for our citizens traveling to the mainland," he said, urging Taiwanese to study the new rules closely. "Anyone planning to travel to the mainland must conduct a proper risk assessment beforehand to ensure their own safety."
With the regulation due to take effect September 15, the MAC's warning adds to a growing list of advisories Taipei has issued in recent years cautioning citizens about the legal risks of traveling to mainland China, even as Beijing insists the rule is designed to protect, not restrict, the rights of those who cross its borders. （Related： Beijing Watch | China's New Exit Rules May Block Travelers at the Gate ｜ Latest ）
