More than 400 descendants of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) soldiers who were left behind in Myanmar and Thailand 60 years ago demonstrated yesterday in Taipei, demanding the government grant them citizenship.
Following the KMT’s defeat in the Chinese Civil War 60 years ago, tens of thousands of its soldiers moved across the Chinese border into Myanmar and Thailand.
They became trapped there when the KMT regime collapsed in China and fled to Taiwan.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
When the governments of Myanmar and Thailand refused to grant them residency or citizenship, they became stateless.
“Although they’ve always been stateless, the government has, in the past, allowed them to come to Taiwan to study and granted them citizenship right away — sometimes within one week or one day,” said Liu Hsiao-hua (劉小華), executive director of the Thai-Myanmar Region Chinese Offspring Refugee Service Association.
Since none of them hold Thai or Myanmar citizenship, they had to come to Taiwan with forged or bought passports.
“But the government told them as long as they could get to Taiwan, it didn’t care how they did it,” Liu said.
The situation changed in May 1999 when the Immigration Act (移民法) was revised and the provision was canceled, Liu said.
However, the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission (OCAC) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) did not publicize the new policy and continued to recruit students in those areas.
“I came to Taiwan in 2000 and was told by the MOE that I may get permanent residency in Taiwan after five to seven years,” said Wan Chien-chu (王建菊), who came from northern Thailand and graduated from the National Taipei College of Business in February.
“I’ve received my degree, but without proper documents, I cannot take any national exams for a license and therefore I cannot work,” she said.
This was also the case for Huang Chien-pang (黃建邦), who said that his family has “been stateless for three generations.”
“After buying a forged passport and paying my tuition, I’m NT$120,000 [US$3,950] in debt,” Huang said. “So I had to quit school and began working as a construction worker to make about NT$10,000 to NT$20,000 a month.”
Huang added that without proper documents, he can’t do anything if he’s not paid, and has to pay the full cost when seeing a doctor as he has no health insurance.
However terrible their life in Taiwan is, there is no way back either.
“Since most of them came on forged passports, the Myanmar and Thai governments will not allow them to return — so they’re trapped,” Liu said.
After demonstrating outside the Legislative Yuan, they moved on to the Executive Yuan, where they were invited inside to talk with two low-level officials.
However, the representatives left the Executive Yuan disappointed.
“They only said that they would study the possibility of revising current laws, but wouldn’t give us a concrete timetable,” Liu said. “Before any changes in the law, they [the students] will still have to live illegally — meaning that they’re breaking the law even for walking on the street.”
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS