In response to China's intensified infiltration efforts, President Lai Ching-te convened a National Security Council meeting and approved 17 countermeasures, emphasizing that public officials' exchanges with China must be conducted with “information disclosure and transparency.” The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) swiftly proposed amendments to the Cross-Strait Relations Act and the Hong Kong and Macao Relations Act, which are currently under review by the Executive Yuan.

All public officials, including village chiefs and grassroots civil servants, will be required to apply for approval before traveling to China, Hong Kong, or Macao. Previously, the Cross-Strait Relations Act only mandated reporting for specific high-ranking officials and national security-related personnel, but grassroots civil servants, who frequently handle sensitive data, were not included. This poses a risk of infiltration.

To address this, the MAC plans to manage all levels of public officials, standardizing penalties as well. All current public servants (regardless of rank) and elected officials (including council members and village chiefs) will also be included in the regulation, extending to public institutions and certain associations or groups. Those who travel to China without approval could face fines of up to NT$10 million.

In March of this year, Lai Ching-te announced 17 national security strategies, requiring that all levels of public officials disclose exchange information transparently to the public. According to a report from Kuomintang legislator Chang Chih-lun, in the past decade, 318 public officials had violated regulations by traveling to China, among which 55 were high-ranking officials. He criticized that many government agencies have not effectively implemented inspections, rendering related regulations nominal and the actual violations likely far exceed the reported figures.

This amendment also revises Article 10 of the Hong Kong and Macao Relations Act, ensuring that regulations pertaining to public officials traveling to Hong Kong and Macao comply with the Cross-Strait Relations Act, preventing circumvention to China or infiltration. The Executive Yuan has recently ordered all military and public sector educators not to apply for residence permits in China. As for whether the general public's possession of Chinese residence permits will be regulated, the MAC has stated that it will research potential legislation, but this draft does not yet cover that issue.