The most comprehensive amendment yet to the Statute Governing the Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) was passed for its first reading by the Legislative Yuan's Home and Nation's Committee yesterday, after marathon negotiations between the Mainland Affairs Council and the legislature.
The revision increases the statute's articles to 133 from the original 96, of which 126 articles were passed during the first reading, while seven articles related to the direct three links and mainland brides were held for further cross-party negotiations.
57 of the original 96 articles of the statute haven't been revised in the past 13 years and are now out of date. Because communication between China and Taiwan has developed constantly, the MAC decided to revise these articles "to maintain the order of the cross-strait exchanges."
The MAC explained that the underlying principle of the statute has been changed from "prohibition as a rule, opening as an exception" (
Under the draft amendments, some major bans that are currently in place would be lifted.
Among the proposed amendments that failed to get passed was a new version of Article 1. This article explains the principles behind the government's stance on cross-strait exchanges. The TSU legislative caucus insisted on removing the word "unification" from the original article, saying that "unification" is not Taiwan's only option. On the other hand, the most controversial articles, Article 28, 29, and 30 -- regarding the direct three links -- did not pass the first reading, because of disputes from different parties.
Also, Article 16 and Article 17 regulating mainland brides' residence status in Taiwan and their labor rights was not passed, because of the PFP's opposition.
Because of opposition to the MAC's stance on the direct three links and the rights of mainland brides, PFP legislators also walked out of negotiations between the MAC and the legislature yesterday afternoon. The remaining legislators completed the review without the PFP legislators.
Meanwhile, Article 68, regulating what happens to veteran servicemen's property when they die was held back, because of KMT legislators' opposition to the MAC's version.
Under the revised statute, aside from mayors of municipalities, all of the local cities and counties' mayors and commissioners would be allowed to visit China without the Ministry of the Interior's permission.
Meanwhile, MAC Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (
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