The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in New York on Friday issued its 1,000th Republic of China (ROC) passport embedded with an integrated circuit (IC) chip, a milestone in a program instituted by Taiwan last year to crack down on forged passports, an official said.
Kenneth Liao (廖港民), head of the TECO New York office, reiterated that objective as he handed the 1,000th IC passport to its applicant.
He also expressed the hope that the US, which he described as one of Taiwan’s best foreign friends, would allow visa-free treatment for Taiwanese passport holders.
Ireland recently announced that starting on Wednesday Taiwanese citizens visiting Ireland for non-employment purposes such as tourism, business and family visits would be able to enter the country without a visa for a maximum stay of 90 days.
Liao attributed the decision, which followed a similar concession by the UK in March, to Taiwan’s introduction on Dec. 29 of its new anti-fraud IC passport.
If Washington decides to offer visa-free treatment to the large number of Taiwanese who travel to the US every year, it would not only allow greater convenience, but also symbolize the close friendship and mutual trust that exist between the US and Taiwan, he said.
Taiwan began issuing electronic passports late last year as part of efforts to prevent human-smuggling rings from using the stolen identities of Taiwanese children to apply for ROC passports through “legal channels.”
Taiwan hopes the enhanced security of its passports will convince the US to offer visa-free treatment to Taiwanese citizens.
Taiwanese passport holders are allowed visa-free entry to some countries, including Japan, South Korea and Singapore, for visits of up to 30 days.
• The integrated chip was planned as a way to combat counterfeit passports.
• TECO believes the passports were crucial in gaining visa-free status to the UK and Ireland.
• TECO hopes the passports will help Taiwan gain visa-free status to the US.
• Taiwan began issuing the electronic passports late last year.
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