Several non-governmental organizations yesterday criticized a Cabinet-approved amendment that would ease restrictions on Chinese spouses, saying it still did not give these new immigrants the same rights as other foreign spouses.<ｐ>
“There is a gap between our expectations and the result, “ said Chung Jin-ming, president of an alliance that promotes marriage between Taiwanese and Chinese.
He urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to fulfill his campaign promise to treat Chinese nationals the same as other foreign spouses.
“That’s our bottom line,” Chung said.
The Cabinet on Thursday approved a draft amendment to the Statute Governing Relations Between People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例), shortening the time it takes Chinese spouses to qualify for a Republic of China (ROC) identity card.
The draft amendment will be sent to the legislature for review. If approved, it will take Chinese immigrants six years, instead of the current eight, to qualify for an identity card.
It only takes four years to get an identity card for other foreign spouses, mostly originating from Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam and Indonesia.
Wang Chuan-ping (王娟萍), president of the New Immigrants Labor Rights Association, expressed regret that the Cabinet decided to mandate a waiting period of six years before Chinese spouses can apply for an ID card.
She said that her association would begin lobbying legislators next week in a bid to convince them to change the length of the waiting period to the same as for other foreign spouses.
The amendment would also eliminate the cap on the amount Chinese immigrants can inherit from their Taiwanese spouses, which currently stands at NT$2 million (US$60,000).
The amendment would also allow Chinese spouses to obtain work permits as long as they enter the country legally, instead of having to meet specific existing requirements, such as having lived in Taiwan for at least two years, having children or being a member of a low-income household.
Chung described the Cabinet’s proposed changes to the law as “postponed justice.”
There are an estimated 290,000 Chinese spouses in Taiwan, making them the largest group of foreign spouses in the country.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS