The Communist Party of China pushes the "one-in-one principle" into the administrative system of third countries: Taiwan passports become a new round of pressure on Taiwan

The Chinese Communist Party’s pressures on Taiwan are “broken” from the diplomatic level and excluding international organizations further into third-country visa, border and travel documents systems.In the past, Beijing has mainly demanded the establishment of formal relations with Taiwan; now it is more cautious whether this political requirement is being further translated into actual restrictions on the identity and passports of ordinary Taiwanese.

In April 2025, Somalia announced that passports and related travel documents issued by Taiwan would not be used for entry, exit or transit.The Chinese Embassy in Somalia subsequently publicly expressed its support and called this a “substantial action” for Somalia to adhere to the “one-in-one principle”.

The Somali measures did not later become a stable international practice, but this incident left an important precedent: Beijing’s publicly recognized “one-in-one principle” could be extended from “no relations with Taiwan” to “no acceptance of travel documents issued by Taiwan.”

In June this year, similar pressure appeared in Kenya. Taiwanese delegates were blocked when they traveled to Mombasa to participate in Our Ocean Conference 2026 and Taiwan said that some participants' visas were revoked at the last minute, and their passports and mobile phones were seized for more than 20 hours.

The distinction is that Kenya has not publicly issued a new law “comprehensively prohibiting Taiwan passports from entering”.In other words, there is still a legal difference between political statements, meeting-site disposal and official national passports prohibition.Therefore, these events are more worth observing: China’s pressure on Taiwan does not necessarily always come through a paper public prohibition, it can also gradually land through visas, conference qualification, border enforcement and administrative discretion.

What the Communist Party really pushed was not only to have more countries write "one China" on diplomatic documents, but also to have these countries' administrative systems begin to handle the identity of Taiwanese according to Beijing's political definition.

Taiwan passports still have extensive international travel effects.July 23 updated data from the Taiwan Consular Affairs Department shows that Taiwan residents can still travel to a large number of countries and regions with passports and enjoy visa-free, landing visas or electronic visas.

This reveals a long-standing reality: diplomatically not recognizing Taiwan is not equivalent to not accepting a Taiwan passport.

Although the vast majority of countries in the world have established relations with Beijing, they still use Taiwan passports as real travel documents in their visa, border and air systems.

Beijing has long cited the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to strengthen its relationship with Taiwan, but the resolution addresses the issue of China’s representation rights at the United Nations, does not stipulate that Taiwanese residents must use the People’s Republic of China passports, nor does it require UN member states to refuse travel documents issued by Taiwan.

The logic that Beijing is now trying to push is even further: Since a country recognizes the People’s Republic of China as representing China, should that country also treat Taiwanese passports and identities in accordance with Beijing’s definition?

This is no longer a diplomatic statement, but a question of how the executive power of a third country is influenced by Beijing’s sovereign claims.

The People's Republic of China has never practically ruled Taiwan since 1949.But Beijing has tried to use economic, diplomatic and political influence to transform its claim to Taiwan's sovereignty into an administrative reality that occurs outside Taiwan

• what documents a Taiwanese uses at a third-country airport and with what status enters may also be influenced by the political requirements of the Communist Party of China.

This pressure has begun to react.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on July 17 that it stopped providing partial entry facilities to Cambodian citizens from August 1, and clearly pointed out that Cambodia's long-term cooperation with China's comments on degrading Taiwan's sovereignty is one of the reasons for adjusting the policy; whether the relevant facilities will be restored in the future will also depend on the policy of the Cambodian government towards Taiwan.

This suggests that once passports and visas are politized, it is difficult to act in one direction forever.Beijing can use diplomatic influence to compress the international space of action of Taiwanese people, and Taiwan will also respond through visas, entry and personal exchange policies.

The pressure of the Xi Jinping administration on Taiwan in recent years has formed multiple fronts: military deterrence around Taiwan, diplomatic isolation in international organizations, economic pressure reflected in trade policy, and the issue of passports and identity opened up a more hidden front.

It takes place at the airport checkpoints, the e-visa system, the international conference registration platform and the border check window.

The ultimate goal, however, has the same political logic: even if Taiwan continues to exist, it becomes increasingly difficult to use its identity to exist in the international community.

Beijing really wants to export, so it is not just a "one-of-a-kind principle."

It is trying to export the power of the Communist Party to define Taiwan—not only to require other governments to accept Beijing’s political definition of Taiwan, but also to try to put that definition ultimately into the passports and cross-border identities of every Taiwanese.

When a Taiwanese resident who has never been ruled by the People’s Republic of China may also be redefined at a third-country airport because of Beijing’s pressure, the crackdown on Taiwan has already crossed the Taiwan Strait.

It is borrowing the borders of other countries and extending the political control of the Communist Party of China to the Taiwanese.