Taiwan is considered a territory under the jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) by some European countries that granted Taiwan visa exemption earlier this year, enquiries by the Taipei Times have revealed.
Croatia refers to the country as “Taiwan, People’s Republic of China” in its regulations on the visa regime, while Taiwan is placed by Slovenia under the category of “China,” which also includes Hong Kong and Macau.
Montenegro made no mention of Taiwan in its regulations on the visa regime. It previously defined Taiwan as an entity or territorial authority that was not recognized.
The three are among the seven countries of the former Yugoslavia where Republic of China (ROC) passport holders can now enter without a visa.
After the EU’s inclusion of Taiwan into its visa-waiver program, of which Slovenia is a member, in November last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) turned to six Balkan countries to push for visa exemptions and so far, Croatia and Montenegro have agreed to lift visa requirements for Taiwanese travelers.
Asked about Taiwan’s designation by Croatia, the ministry’s head of European affairs, James Lee (李光章), yesterday said the ministry had long been aware of the situation even before the granting of visa-waiver status.
“We know about this and have been continuing to work on it as it is a matter concerning the dignity of the country,” Lee said when reached by the Taipei Times for comment.
Croatia declined to change the reference during its negotiations with Taiwan over its visa-free travel regime for Taiwanese, Lee said, without expounding on the reasons.
A MOFA official speaking anonymously said the ministry had asked Croatia to replace the designation “Taiwan, PRC” with “Taiwan” in the negotiations, but to no avail.
“Despite that, Croatia did not lift its visa requirements with the premise that we agreed to the reference ‘Taiwan, PRC,’” the official said.
That Taiwan did not agree to follow the principle of reciprocity in granting Croatian citizens visa-free treatment, as it has provided to Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania — three EU members who are not yet part of the Schengen area — following its inclusion into the EU’s visa-waiver program was partly because of Croatia’s “unacceptable” reference, the official said.
Croatia did not meet criteria for visa-free entry into Taiwan not only because of technical concerns with issues like passport security, but also because of Zagreb’s denigration of Taiwan’s status, he added.
The official said the ministry had weighed the benefits of visa-free entry to Croatia for Taiwanese against the “Taiwan, PRC” designation and decided to adopt a pragmatic approach on the name issue.
The issue was between whether the offer should be rejected solely because of the reference that has been used by Croatia and the former Yugoslavia since the ROC’s replacement by the PRC in the UN in 1971, and whether it should be accepted to benefit the growing number of Taiwanese tourists and businesspeople going there as visas were not easy to obtain, he said.
“We understand how deeply rooted the influence China holds in Croatia and countries in the former Yugoslavia is,” the official said. “It has taken strenuous effort for countries under socialism to transform themselves to market economies and to come to where they are today, but they are still unable to resist pressure from China.”
He said the ministry decided to put on hold the disagreement over the naming issue for the time being and instead to “make friends” with Croatia and countries in similar situations “without forcing them to do things they are unable to do.”
The EU refers to the country as “Taiwan” in its visa-waiver program, but the practice has not been adopted by all EU members. While Slovenia does not follow the -practice, for example, fellow Schengen area member Estonia does.
Under Romania’s visa regime, Taiwan is deemed an entity or territory that is not recognized as a state by at least one member state.
The ministry had conducted a survey by keying in “Taiwan, Province of China” using Google and more than 80 million results came out ranging from governments, academic institutions, companies and non-governmental organizations, Lee said.
“In a single EU country, there are about 200,000 to 300,000 results coming out from the search. The ministry has been working on this in the same spirit as the foolish old man Yugong (愚公) did in moving away mountains,” Lee said.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS