Minister of the Interior Liao Liao-yi (廖了以) has promised to present a draft amendment to the Legislative Yuan in September which, if approved, would grant legal resident status to descendants of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) army troops left in Myanmar and Thailand following the Chinese Civil War.
Liao made the pledge on Thursday after receiving representatives of 380 descendants of the soldiers who are studying in Taiwan. Liao met them after they staged a protest outside the Legislative Yuan and a sit-in at Liberty Square in Taipei earlier in the day to demand that the government recognize their legitimate status.
Saying that the legislature would go into recess on July 18, Liao added that the ministry planned to put forth an amendment to the Immigration Act in September when the next legislative session opens.
The descendants complained that, as they did not hold Taiwanese citizenship and some are staying in Taiwan illegally, they often worried about being arrested by police.
Liao said that the National Immigration Agency would issue temporary registration certificates to them on July 15 and July 16 to ensure their legal stay in Taiwan before the approval of the amendment.
He also promised to order the agency to map out measures to tackle relevant issues involving the descendants.
The protesters’ parents, along with thousands of KMT soldiers, were moved to Myanmar and Thailand after retreating from China following the KMT’s defeat at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
As the Myanmar and Thai governments refused to grant them residency or citizenship, some of the descendants chose to come to Taiwan with forged passports.
Despite having graduated from Taiwanese schools, some of them still have no Thai or Burmese citizenship, while becoming illegal immigrants to Taiwan.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS