A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker has proposed an amendment to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six.
KMT Legislator Yu Hao (游顥) said all foreign spouses who come to live in Taiwan are putting down roots and raising children, which bolsters the population and contributes to cultural exchanges.
“We should see the positive impact of foreign spouses and not see it in political terms. Although they are all from other countries, Chinese spouses take longer to become citizens. This is discrimination,” Yu said.
Photo: Lin Liang-sheng, Taipei Times
“On the principle of equality for all citizens under the Constitution, we should apply the same statutes under the Immigration Act [入出國及移民法] to Chinese spouses and spouses from other countries,” he said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said the proposed amendment would result in a severe national security crisis, as Chinese spouses could collude with Beijing to alter Taiwan’s demographic composition.
The Chinese government has used such a “population restocking” strategy to suppress Tibetans and Uighurs in their home regions, shifting the demographic balance and political and economic power in favor of Chinese, she said, adding that the ploy is now aimed at Taiwan.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Mach Ngoc Tran (麥玉珍), who is originally from Vietnam and acquired Taiwanese citizenship through marriage, had last year tried to reduce the period required to acquire Taiwanese citizenship through “underhanded” means by proposing amendments to the New Immigrants Basic Act (新住民基本法), Wu said.
Mach used the situation of Southeast Asian spouses to justify shortening the waiting period for Chinese to four years, but the DPP caucus blocked it from proceeding, she said.
“In reality, the conditions for spouses from other countries are far more strict,” she said.
Chinese spouses do not have to take a qualification exam and do not need to give up their citizenship, which is required for spouses from other countries. Conditions for those coming from China are already very lenient and favorable,” Wu said.
“Spouses of other countries must stay [in Taiwan] at least 138 days per year to be qualified and it would take eight years for them to obtain citizenship, while Chinese spouses only need six years,” she said.
“If Chinese spouses can support Taiwan’s social culture, rule of law and democratic framework, and are willing to take the qualification exam and give up their Chinese citizenship, we would be open to discussing changes,” she added.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS