Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has received 461 reports involving Taiwanese citizens who went missing, were questioned or were detained while in mainland China between Jan. 1, 2024, and Oct. 22, 2026. The agency’s Oct. 24 weekly update showed 12 additional cases over the past month, including three in the past week. The figure is a cumulative total of reports, not the number of people currently missing or in custody.
Nurse questioned during Tibet tour
A Taiwanese nurse identified only by the surname Lin said Chinese state security personnel questioned him for about an hour during a tour of Tibet. In a post on Threads and a subsequent interview with the Central News Agency (CNA), Lin said three of the eight Taiwanese travelers in his group were questioned separately. Two worked as nurses, while the third was an aircraft maintenance technician.
According to CNA, Lin, who previously worked at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, said the officers asked about his employment, military service, family background and political views. Among their questions were, “Did you previously provide services to military personnel while working at Veterans General Hospital?” and “Would you support unification if you were offered a higher salary?”
Other questions concerned his party affiliation, where he served in Taiwan’s military and whether he had contact with Taipei city officials. Lin said the interviewers did not confiscate his phone or require him to sign a confidentiality agreement.
“I rarely express any political views online, so I don’t really know why they singled me out,” Lin told CNA. He added that although some questions seemed trivial, “many of them were constantly testing my position.” Lin said he had not expected such questioning to happen to him.
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The MAC confirmed on Oct. 15 that it had contacted Lin, who currently works at a public hospital. His case was separate from that of another nurse, questioned during an August trip to Tibet after previously working at a military hospital. Lin told the council he did not plan to visit China again soon.
Reports increase as Taiwan maintains travel warning
Of the 461 reports, 176 involved people reported missing, 41 involved travelers held for questioning and 244 involved people detained by Chinese authorities, according to the MAC’s latest tally. Since the previous week, the missing category rose by one and the detained category by two; the questioning category was unchanged.
MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh said the risk was not limited to senior officials or personnel handling sensitive information. Speaking about Lin’s case on Oct. 15, Liang cautioned, “Just because you haven’t encountered it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.” The council has also reported cases involving lower-ranking public servants and other travelers.
Some reports arose after Taiwanese citizens traveled to China to visit relatives or friends, the council said. It urged travelers to consider the risks posed by China’s expanding national-security and counterespionage rules, including authorities’ powers to inspect electronic devices.
Taiwan’s official travel alert for mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau remains at “orange,” advising people to “avoid nonessential travel.” The advisory, first raised to that level in June 2024, cites incidents of detention and questioning as well as changes to national-security laws. Travelers who must make the trip are encouraged to register their itinerary through the MAC’s travel-registration system so officials can assist during emergencies.
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