A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator said yesterday that for the sake of national security, the waiting period for Chinese spouses of Taiwan nationals to obtain Republic of China (ROC) citizenship should not be shortened to four years from the present eight years.
DPP Legislator Chang Ching-hui (張慶惠) made the remarks as a legislative committee is set to review an opposition-initiated draft amendment to the Statute Governing Relations between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) on Wednesday to cut the waiting period in half.
Chang said that the DPP should consider the views of the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of the Interior before deciding on how to deal with the issue.
She said that in addition to considering national security, one should also consider the cross-strait situation and the population density in Taiwan, adding that she had reservations about the amendment, especially in the wake of reports of Chinese women coming to Taiwan to engage in prostitution under the guise of marriage.
The current regulations state that Chinese spouses of Taiwanese citizens can apply to stay as a dependent after being married for two years.
After an additional four years of residence with at least 183 days in each of those years, foreign spouses can apply for a long-stay visa. After two more years, they can apply for citizenship, as long as they do not have a criminal record.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chu Feng-chi (朱鳳芝), one of the authors of the amendment, said that the waiting period should be shortened based on human rights considerations.
KMT legislator Diane Lee (李慶安), meanwhile, said that under current immigration laws, foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens can obtain ID cards after four years, making it unfair for Chinese spouses to wait eight years.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
RSS