KMT Legislator John Chang (章孝嚴) will have to overcome seemingly insurmountable legal hurdles to amend the names of his parents on his identification card.
On Friday, the Ministry of the Interior spelled out the problems he would face in recording former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) and his mistress, Chang Ya-juo (章亞若), as his biological parents.
PHOTO: FROM THE BOOK ``CHIANG CHING-KUO AND CHANG YA-JUO' BY CHO
John Chang and his twin brother, Winston Chang (章孝慈), were born in Gueilin, Guangxi Province, in 1941.
Household registrations for illegitimate children in Taiwan usually list only the biological mother, leaving the space for the father blank.
But on John Chang's household registration, Chang's uncle, Chang Hau-juo (章浩若), and his wife, Chi Chen (紀琛), are listed as his parents.
To change this, the ministry said, Chang would have to prove two things: that Chang Hau-juo and Chi Chen are not his biological parents; and that Chiang and Chang Ya-juo were indeed his biological parents.
"To erase the current listed parents' names, Chang has to prove in court that the household registration was forged and that the current listed parents are not his biological parents," said Vice Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (
According to the Household Registration Law (
To prove who his biological parents are, Chang would have to provide a birth certificate or DNA tests, the ministry said.
Both couples are dead, but Chang said that the sons of Chang Hau-juo and Chi Chen in China would be able to prove that he doesn't have any blood relations with them.
He also said he would try to contact the hospital in Gueilin where he was born to get his birth certificate.
Nevertheless, a judge told the Taipei Times that John Chang could get the names changed if he could prove that he had been `adopted' by Chiang, although this would prove nothing about who his real father is.
According to Article 1065 of the Civil Code, a child born out of wedlock who has been acknowledged by the natural father is deemed to be `legitimate.' If the child has been maintained by the natural father, acknowledgement is deemed to have been established.
"By law, if an illegitimate child wants to become a `legitimate' child, he or she must complete the legal process of adoption. The law also requires the natural father of the illegitimate child to accompany the child through the process, including filing an adoption application and attending a civil trial."
According to the judge, the biggest problem for John Chang is that Chang Hau-juo, his registered biological father, is not alive to "accompany" him through the process. He would also have difficulty proving that Chiang had raised him and treated him like a son.
However, if he succeeds, it seems he will be able to keep the family name has been using.
Under the Article 1059 of the Civil Code, children assume the surname of the father, unless he has agreed that the child shall assume the mother's surname, and only then if the mother does not have any brothers.
However, the ministry decided on Friday that the Civil Code does not apply to illegitimate or adopted children.
"This article does not state either way that adopted children have to take the name of the mother or the father," a civil judge at the Taipei District Court (台北地方法院), who wished to remain anonymous, told the Taipei Times. "As a result, Chang will not have a problem with this."
Nevertheless, Chang, as a lawmaker, could face legal problems over changing the names he registered as his parents before the last legislative elections.
A senior official at the Ministry of Justice said that if Chang succeeds in changing the names, he may be violating the Criminal Code (刑法).
"His wish to amend his parents' names on his identification card is also a message that he was lying when he registered for the legislative election," the official said. "To solve this problem, he may need to turn himself in and receive a non-indictment order from the court."
When Chang brought up the issue of "correcting" his parents' names on his identification card on July 5, he said that everybody knew who his real parents were.
"I am just trying to correct a mistake which has existed for nearly 60 years. That's all," he said.
Nevertheless, the recognition could benefit him.
"Once Chang can prove his relationship with Chiang, he will be able to enjoy and share the same benefits and responsibilities as a son of Chiang with his other legitimate children, which is clearly regulated on the Article 1069 of the Civil Code," the judge said.
The article states that the legitimation of a child born out of wedlock is retroactive to the time of birth, but the existing rights of third parties are not affected thereby.
Reacting to the ministry's conclusions, Chang on Friday night issued a press release expressing his appreciation.
"Lawmaker Chang will submit evidence to prove that he doesn't have biological relations with Chang Hau-juo and Chi Chen [but does] with Chang Ya-juo," the release said.
One lawyer said the case showed the flaws in the Civil Code.
"Chang's case, at least, forces the government to clarify the uncertainty of the current regulations," said Liu Meng-Jin (
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching