The government plans to amend a law to extend the time Chinese spouses must wait to get Republic of China identification cards from eight years to 11, a move the spouses say is unfair.
The planned amendment to the Statute Governing the Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday that although the amendment will lengthen the time these spouses must wait to get identification cards, it will considerably reduce the number of trips they are forced take between China and Taiwan.
Under the current law, the spouses must return to China every six months within the first two years of marriage.
The amendment will revoke the rule so that Chinese spouses will not have to make compulsory trips between the two sides in the first two years of marriage, the MAC said.
But the amendment will not be applicable to Chinese spouses who have already obtained the right of abode in Taiwan, which is usually granted two years after they are married. They will, as before, be given identification cards eight years after marriage.
As for Chinese spouses who have applied for right of abode, they are allowed to choose between the original or the amended version of the law, said MAC Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (
For newly married Chinese spouses who have yet to apply for right of abode, they will have to abide by the amendment, according to the MAC.
Tsai said the government wants to be more strict about granting Chinese spouses identification cards, while trying to make their lives easier by revoking the compulsory trips.
"Since 1992, cross-strait marriages have grown fast and we already have more than 200,000 Chinese spouses in Taiwan. The number is growing by 30,000 every year," Tsai said.
She said the increasing number of relatives brought by Chinese spouses to Taiwan will have a considerable impact on society. The government has to handle the immigration tide carefully, Tsai added.
Compared with Chinese spouses, other foreign spouses must usually wait six months to obtain right of abode in Taiwan and four to eight years to get identification cards, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) said.
There are about 100,000 foreign non-Chinese spouses in Taiwan, according to the MOI.
Chien Tai-lang (
The handling of Chinese spouses is based on the Statute Governing the Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, whereas the handling of other foreign spouses falls under the Nationality Law (國籍法) and the Immigration Law (入出國移民法), Chien said.
Chien said Chinese and other foreign spouses should not be treated on an equal basis.
"The cross-strait situation is a special case. After the Chinese spouses settle down in Taiwan, their close relatives mostly follow them to Taiwan. We are concerned the number of Chinese people immigrating to Taiwan will increase," Chien said.
"In order to maintain our national security and benefits, [the government] should be more strict with Chinese spouses than with foreign spouses in terms of issuing identification cards," Chien said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)