A routine press briefing by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on 28 January clarified that retired Taiwanese military personnel are not automatically entitled to the same veterans’ concessions that the People’s Liberation Army affords its own ex-servicemen. The statement followed an online incident in which a Taiwan veteran attempted to use a Taiwanese military discharge certificate to receive free entry at a mainland scenic site, prompting questions about entitlement and precedent.
Spokesperson Zhang Han said that, beginning in 2024, some mainland scenic spots have offered a range of conveniences to Taiwan compatriots visiting the mainland, including a waiver of entrance fees for Taiwan permit holders who visit within one year of obtaining their first Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents (commonly known as the taibaozheng). Zhang stressed that these measures are targeted specifically at "first-time" visitors — the so-called "首来族" — and are not a blanket extension of civil-military benefits.
On the separate question of discounts for veterans, the Taiwan Affairs Office advised members of the public to consult the published rules for the PLA’s retired personnel ticketing concessions. The implicit message was that those policies are institutionally specific: concessions for PLA veterans are distinct from tourism incentives aimed at Taiwan residents rather than a legal recognition of Taiwanese military service.
The clarification matters because it sits at the intersection of practical tourism policy and symbolic politics across the Taiwan Strait. On the practical side, Beijing has used targeted travel incentives to encourage mainland visits by Taiwanese citizens, seeking economic interaction and soft-power influence. Symbolically, whether Taiwan ex-servicemen are treated similarly to PLA veterans touches on sensitive questions of identity, loyalty and the legal boundaries of cross-Strait integration.
Beijing’s narrow framing allows it to combine public-facing generosity with institutional caution. By marketing fee waivers to first-time visitors, authorities can boost people-to-people ties without formally blurring the line between the PRC armed forces and Taiwan’s military institutions — a distinction that would be politically explosive both in Taiwan and among mainland veterans who expect parity in benefits within the PLA system.
For Taipei, the episode is a reminder of how small administrative disputes can be amplified online and refracted into broader political narratives. Pro-unification advocates may view such incentives as an opening for deeper integration, while political opponents in Taiwan can portray Mainland gestures as conditional and instrumental, aimed at influence rather than genuine parity or recognition.
In short, the Taiwan Affairs Office’s response defused an immediate misunderstanding while underscoring a steady PRC approach: use selective material inducements to encourage contact while stopping short of policy moves that would imply legal or institutional equivalence between Taiwanese and PLA veterans.