Longtime immigrant rights advocate Lorna Kung (龔尤倩) and five immigrants who call themselves “unqualified citizens” yesterday announced their intention to run in the coming legislative elections and started a campaign to collect signatures, hoping to raise awareness among the public and in the government about immigrant rights.
“We’re here collecting signatures and asking for support at St Christopher’s Church [in Taipei], because we think immigrants and migrant workers need representatives who can speak for them in the legislature,” Kung said. “Immigrants and migrant workers live in Taiwan, they make a contribution to this country, they pay taxes. Therefore they should have the right to speak for themselves in Taiwanese politics.”
While Kung is a Republic of China (ROC) citizen who was born in Taiwan and meets the criteria to become a legislative candidate, the other five do not qualify as candidates, according to current laws.
The five immigrants are Tran Thu Lieu (陳秋柳), a spouse of Vietnamese origin who came to Taiwan eight years ago and has obtained ROC citizenship; Carlos Go (吳自安), an “ROC national without citizenship” born in the Philippines and who eventually obtained citizenship after staying in the country for 11 years; Harry To Hu (呂廈利), another “ROC national without citizenship” who holds an ROC passport, but not an ROC ID card; Tony Thamsir, an Indonesian living in Taiwan who has an Alien Permanent Resident Certificate; and Wena-Ari Wu, an Indonesian who came to Taiwan as an immigrant spouse five years ago and now holds an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC).
“There are roughly 500 ‘ROC nationals without citizenship’ living in Taiwan who have ROC passports, but not ID cards,” Go said, in English.
“We want to call the government’s attention to us, because it is ridiculous that people have a country’s passport, but not citizenship,” he said.
According to the Election and Recall Act for Public Servants (公職人員選舉罷免法), only ROC citizens have the right to vote and to become candidates in elections.
However, those who obtain citizenship through naturalization may only run in elections 10 years after becoming naturalized citizens.
Despite knowing they would not make it onto the ballot, Go said he had announced his intention to run, and join the signature collection campaign, to raise awareness among the public and the government about immigrant rights.
Although he was born in the Philippines, he has an ROC passport because he was born to parents who are ROC citizens from Fujian Province, when the ROC ruled China, and is not a Philippine citizen, he said.
When he came to Taiwan 11 years ago, he had to go through a seven-year process to obtain first an ARC and then the ROC national ID, he said.
“I am married to a Taiwanese, I love my family in Taiwan and I love Taiwan,” said Tran, another “unqualified candidate.”
“We immigrants are not outsiders here,” she added.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner