The number of cross-strait marriages is reportedly declining because for the last six months, Chinese associations of notary publics have been rejecting notarized documents issued in Taiwan that bear the ROC's national seal.
Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF,
Patricia Lin (
"Most of the e-mail and phone calls we have received recently from the public are complaints about the Chinese rejection of certificates of non-impediment to marriage that were issued by notary publics in Taiwan," she said.
Lin said people also complained that the arbitrariness of the Chinese bureaucracy made them waste both money and time going back and forth to China to deal with the issue.
"Sometimes they [the Chinese] accept such documents, while in other cases they don't," Lin said.
She says around 5,800 notarized certificates have been rejected.
The certificates are required under Chinese law for Taiwan citizens wishing to marry Chinese citizens.
According to Lin, the rejections have left some pregnant Chinese women unable to marry their Taiwanese boyfriends.
"They have to put up with gossip from relatives, neighbors and friends. They are actually under great pressure," Lin said.
Agreement was reached on cross-strait notarization procedures at the Koo-Wang talks in 1993. Under the agreement, notarized documents must comply "with the appropriate document format," although that format is not defined.
Until December, Chinese authorities did not have a problem accepting certificates with the ROC seal on them. But then they announced that they could not accept the ROC seal.
Both the Mainland Affairs Council and the SEF have repeated called on the Chinese authorities to abide by the 1993 agreement, but to no avail.
The SEF has warned that it will do whatever is necessary to solve the problem, although it has declined to elaborate on what actions it could take.
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