A Democratic Progressive Party legislator yesterday introduced a draft amendment that would require Chinese spouses to swear an oath of loyalty to Taiwan and take a test of civic knowledge before becoming citizens.
Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) proposed the changes amid controversy around a proposal to allow Chinese spouses to obtain citizenship after four years of marriage, down from six.
Under the proposal, the oath of loyalty would be legally binding, with contravention of it resulting in the person losing their household registration.
Photo: Reuters
Foreigners wishing to become citizens in most cases must forfeit their original citizenship and take a test, but there are legal and practical difficulties in asking Chinese immigrants to renounce their citizenship, Huang said.
Based on other countries’ citizenship laws, Huang’s proposal would add a naturalization oath and a test of language proficiency, citizens’ rights and obligations 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).
The oath would be performed publicly at a location and in a manner chosen by the Ministry of the Interior, the proposal says.
The text of the oath would read: “I completely renounce my former status as a citizen of the Mainland area and my basic rights and obligations herein. I also vow that after becoming a citizen of the Taiwan area, I will defend its democracy and freedom, abide by its Constitution and laws, and fulfill my civic obligations.”
The text would then be signed and stamped by the applicant, and sent to the ministry to be archived.
The citizenship test content, exemptions, fees and other matters would also be decided by the ministry, the proposal states.
Contravention of Article 33 or Article 33-1 of the act prohibiting engagement with certain organizations or people in China or contraventions of the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法) would result in the loss of household registration, which may be obtained after gaining citizenship.
Those with childcare or other obligations due to their status as citizens would be asked to leave the country, but their citizenship would not be forfeit, the draft states.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we