Activists call for improved property rights for women

Feminists yesterday urged the Legislative Yuan to pass an amendment to the Civil Code (民法) that would give Taiwanese wives the same rights as their husbands over their joint property and entitle any partner to a marriage to freeze such assets in the event that their spouse absconds.

The move is aimed particularly at bolstering the rights of women whose husbands leave them for new wives or lovers in China.

"Since wives in Taiwan have few legal forms of redress if their husbands have affairs in China, the least we can do is to keep the property ... in Taiwan," said Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), a lawyer, long-time women's rights activist and member of the Awakening Foundation, an organization which campaigns for women's rights.

She made the remarks at a press conference held by PFP lawmaker Shen Chih-hwei (沈智慧) at the Legislative Yuan.

Under the Marriage Law of the PRC, the children of a Taiwanese businessman and his Chinese wife or lover have the same rights as the father's legitimate Taiwanese children to inherit property.

"To prevent Chinese spouses having the same right [as Taiwanese wives] to inherit property ... we should pass our amendment as soon as possible," Shen said.

Under Taiwanese regulations, the wishes of Taiwanese husbands take precedence over those of their wives in the event of disputes over the disposal of jointly owned property and husbands are not obliged to pay their wives any portion of the proceeds from the sale of such property.

Shen's amendment would give wives equal rights over joint property and grant partners to a marriage whose spouse absconds the right to apply for a court ruling to divide any joint property or proceeds therefrom into two equal shares. They could also apply to freeze such assets until a court ruling has been made.

While there are no figures available to illustrate the extent of the problem, it is widely thought that instances of Taiwanese men leaving their Taiwanese wives for new wives or lovers in China are increasing. These men are suspected of either taking substantial portions of joint matrimonial property with them or selling such property and retaining the proceeds of the sale.

When the husband has removed much or all of the joint matrimonial property to China, the Taiwanese wives sue for divorce in Chinese courts, in the belief that it will be easier to recover if a Chinese court rules in their favor -- though in fact the wives rarely gain through such rulings. The proposed amendment, however, is designed to deal specifically with the scenario in which a substantial proportion of the property remains in Taiwan.

"Taiwanese wives should do their best to keep property in Taiwan, and they should then file suit in Taiwan," Yu said.

Shen was accompanied by feminist activists and female legislators from the DPP, KMT and TSU. A previous bid to introduce the amendment was defeated, but Shen said that she would keep pushing for its passage.

The amendment will receive its first reading in the Legislative Yuan within two weeks.