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Draft refugee law proposed to tackle influx from China

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has completed a draft refugee law to help deal with an increasing number of Chinese nationals coming to Taiwan to seek political asylum, council spokesman Liu Teh-hsun (劉德勳) said yesterday.

Liu made the announcement just days after a Chinese citizen left his tour group and told local media he wanted political asylum.

Wu Yalin (吳亞林) arrived in Taiwan on Dec. 27 and asked for political asylum six days later, saying that he is wanted in China for distributing a pamphlet published by the Epoch Times. The MAC on Wednesday granted Wu "a longer period" of stay based on humanitarian considerations.

Liu said that under the proposed refugee law, Chinese or other foreign nationals who have fled their home countries for political reasons and request assistance will be turned over to the National Immigration Agency or related government departments. The agencies will investigate the applicants' refugee status and decide whether to grant them permission to stay in the country.

Until a refugee law has been passed, Liu said, the council would handle each case based on past experience and in accordance with Article 16 of the Statute Governing the Relations Between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), which allows direct relatives or spouses of Taiwanese nationals to apply to stay in Taiwan.
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