A Taiwanese woman married to a Pakistani man appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday to accept her husband's application for naturalization, after the ministry's Bureau of Consular Affairs rejected it.
A ministry official said it was reasonable to be very careful when reviewing applications from a country that is "friendly to terrorists," but it would review the case.
Tso Shih-yung (
Tso and Khan were married three years ago and have a three-year-old child, but Khan could not complete his application for naturalization because Taiwan does not have diplomatic ties with Pakistan -- the reason cited by the bureau, Lu said.
The lawmaker said that the law gives all foreign spouses the right to apply to become a citizen, including Chinese nationals.
Tso said she and Khan were married in Taiwan and have a marriage certificate from a local court, but bureau officials asked them to go to Pakistan to register their marriage there and have the marriage certified by the representative office of Pakistan in Saudi Arabia.
"We've spent about NT$200,000 on notarized documents. However, the ministry has yet to respond to our application even though we submitted all the required documents in June. The ministry's regulations do not make any sense," Tso said.
Chen Shang-yu (陳尚友), a bureau official, said that Pakistan has not been friendly to Taiwan although it has treated terrorists in a friendly manner, adding that all countries apply strict standards to Pakistanis' applications.
"It is reasonable for Taiwan to be extremely careful on the applications from such countries. We were not intentionally picky about Khan's case," Chen said. "But we will review this case ... and ask our representative office in Saudi Arabia to help out."
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft