The National Immigration Agency (NIA) yesterday said exiled Chinese democracy activist Wang Dan (王丹) would need to follow due procedure to enter the country, denying him the possibility of being an exception to existing regulations.
The agency announced the resolution after a morning meeting discussing Wang’s case.
NIA Deputy Director-General Chang Chi (張琪) said after the meeting that “the problem lies in the absence of a re-entry permit, because without one, Wang could not even board the plane in the US.”
Wang, who said his persistent dizziness might be a symptom of a brain tumor and asked for the agency’s help to expedite his return to the country for a health check covered by the National Health Insurance, expressed his regret over the decision, but said he respects it.
Wang has been in the US, where he is a permanent resident, since the end of May. He said the government requires Chinese travelers to provide two documents — an Exit and Entry Permit for the Taiwan Area of the Republic of China and an official travel pass for Chinese people — to enter Taiwan.
“In my case, a Chinese passport is out of the question, so I have been asked to provide a re-entry permit issued by the US instead,” Wang said during an interview with radio host Clara Chou (周玉蔻) yesterday morning.
“Since it will take months for me to obtain a US re-entry permit — as it can take a long time for US immigration to process the application — I am simply asking whether it is possible for me to enter Taiwan with the entry permit and my US Green Card,” he said, adding that the Green Card could even better prove that he would be allowed to return to the US.
“I’ve been enrolled in the NHI and have paid my premiums. It’s not like I’m not entitled to the health benefits because I’m a foreigner,” he said.
NIA official Chang Su-hong (張素紅), who joined the interview, said the issuance of the re-entry permit is under “the US’ jurisdiction” and suggested that Wang appeal to the US “since the US is a country of human rights.”
Wang also wrote on Facebook that he respects the Taiwanese government’s decision not to offer help out of humanitarian concern and would seek help from the US Congress and US Department of State to accelerate the processing of his travel documents.
However, he added that it is “completely legitimate” for him to return to Taiwan with a Green Card and a Taiwan entry permit.
Some commentators have denounced Wang’s appeal as a request for special privilege.
Before the interview, Chou, a political pundit, slammed those who derided Wang for his appeal for help, calling their responses “despicable.”
“Affiliates of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) are criticizing Wang, although the KMT strongly supported him back in 1989,” Chou said.
“One of those who voiced strong support for the Chinese dissident years ago was President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九),” Chou said. “I wonder whether [their opposition to Wang] now is because Wang sided with [the Sunflower movement] and is on good terms with his student Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷), one of the movement’s student leaders.”
Chou said that Ma had previously convened a meeting in the Presidential Office chastising National Chengchi University for its failure to find a way to allow baker Wu Pao-chun (吳寶春) — who won the Bakery Master title at the Bakery World Cup in Paris in 2010 and the owner of Wupaochun Bakery — to enroll in the university’s Executive Master of Business Administration program despite only having a junior-high school diploma.
‘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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as