License shambles keeps foreigners off the roads

When quizzed about the episodes, an MOTC official said that he had not been informed of the case. "If such an incident occurred, it should be considered as an exceptional case," he said. "But there will be no more exceptions like this, because we will turn this administrative order into a legal issue to avoid any further ambiguity."

The legislation, however, raises questions about the government's professed drive toward internalization and globalization.

"We have been dealing with a barrage of complaints from foreigners. We [the clerks] do not benefit from this regulation either. Carrying out current regulations means we have to undertake a heavier workload. Why not make our lives easier by sticking to the old rule?" said an employee of the Kaohsiung City government.

"I will not support this legislation," said DPP lawmaker Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁). "The spirit of lawmaking is not to deliberately cripple people's life, but to provide people with a more comfortable living environment with sensible restrictions."

"The reason given by the MOTC -- to curb unlawful foreign residents to use their driver's licenses as identification cards -- is preposterous. In Taiwan, everyone knows that driver's licenses are not the same as identification cards," added Chen.