"The ministry doesn't need to organize the committee for a discussion under circumstances such as an aliens' overstay, lack of a required visa, or having a criminal record in Taiwan or another country," said Tseng.
Since the law was implemented in May of 1999, the United Daily News reported yesterday that the review committee only discussed three cases under Item 13, but officials declined to confirm the figure and to offer any information on related precedents.
"The nature of the meeting is confidential," Chien Tai-lang (
Some officials and observers said any country has its list of persona non grata, and the establishment of the list is "an exercise of a sovereign act" that sometimes stems from reasons unacceptable to the individuals concerned.
"For instance, the fact that former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) plan to visit the US has met with obstruction from the US government shows that the US' denial of his entry is for political considerations," said a commentator, who refused to be named.
But in the case of Kobayashi, some urged the current DPP government not to repeat a similar fiasco staged by the KMT-led government three years ago regarding the denial of the entry of Nobel Peace Laureate Dr Jose Ramos-Horta.
"The government received misinformation from the Indonesian government which described him as a terrorist, and thus decided to deny his entry [for several hours]. Then by the time the government turned around to describe him as a respected figure and decided to allow him to enter Taiwan, he felt insulted and decided not to enter the country," said DPP Legislator Parris Chang (
Even a foreign ministry official described that episode three years ago as "embarrassing."
"The whole thing brought disgrace on our country because it showed that the related agencies inside the government failed to think through the decision thoroughly," said the official under condition of anonymity.
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