Print

Mail

wiki links

Chinese spouses protest new delay to citizenship

Hundreds of Chinese women and their family members gather in front of the Mainland Affairs Council's headquarters yesterday to protest a proposal to extend the time they have to be married to their Taiwanese spouses in order to be eligible for citizenship and therefore national ID cards. PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

Hundreds of Chinese spouses and their families took to the streets yesterday to condemn a proposal to extend the length of time they must be married before they are eligible to apply for citizenship.

Several PFP legislators also took part in the protest in front of the Mainland Affairs Council against a draft amendment to the Statute Governing the Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) that is now before the legislature.

The amendment would extend the waiting period for citizenship for Chinese spouses of Taiwanese from eight to 11 years.

The protesters criticized the amendment as discriminatory, noting that non-Chinese foreign brides are entitled to apply for national identification cards after three years of residence in Taiwan.

Chinese brides from around the country took part in yesterday's demonstration, along with their husbands and children, some of whom were in strollers.

Many wore headbands with protest slogans painted on them and carried placards reading "I want a citizen identification card" and "Against postponing the length of residence."

"Without an identification card, I can't work," one woman said. "My child is in China, because we can't afford to raise her here."

The demonstrators repeatedly demanded that Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) come out to talk to them.

Tsai didn't appear but council Vice Chairman Jonathon Liu (劉德勳) did go out to speak with them.

"We are working on providing more welfare to Chinese spouses. And we will continue to do so," Liu said.

But his refusal to make a firm promise to shorten the time Chi-nese citizens have to wait for citizenship angered the protesters and the lawmakers ended up having to guard Liu as he returned to the council's headquarters.

PFP Legislator Lin Hui-kuan (林惠官) said that Chinese brides took to the streets because they "have no choice."

PFP Legislator Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) said that the government doesn't respect human rights so his party is siding with the Chinese brides.

The director of the council's Department of Legal Affairs, Jeff Yang (楊家駿), later told reporters that the draft amendment is aimed at easing restrictions on spouses earning a living, but it would also toughen regulations for obtaining citizenship and therefore national identification cards.

According to Liu, regulations stipulate that Chinese spouses get the right to work in the seventh year of marriage and become eligible to apply for citizenship and an ID card in the ninth year of marriage.

The amendment would allow Chinese spouses the right to apply for permanent residency in the seventh year of marriage. Permanent residents enjoy all rights of a citizen except the right to vote and there are some restrictions on inheritance.

Under the amendment Chinese spouses who want a citizenship would have to wait until they have been married for 12 years.

"We can't simply look at the length of time it takes to obtain an ID card. Other changes of the new policy should be noticed," Yang said.

He said the council is negotiating with other government agencies to enable Chinese spouses to go to school, get drivers licenses and open bank accounts before they get their national ID cards.

"We will gradually resolve their problems to make their daily life more convenient," Yang said.
This story has been viewed 2367 times.