The National Immigration Agency (NIA) yesterday said exiled Chinese democracy activist Wang Dan (王丹) would need to follow due procedure to enter the country, denying him the possibility of being an exception to existing regulations.
The agency announced the resolution after a morning meeting discussing Wang’s case.
NIA Deputy Director-General Chang Chi (張琪) said after the meeting that “the problem lies in the absence of a re-entry permit, because without one, Wang could not even board the plane in the US.”
Wang, who said his persistent dizziness might be a symptom of a brain tumor and asked for the agency’s help to expedite his return to the country for a health check covered by the National Health Insurance, expressed his regret over the decision, but said he respects it.
Wang has been in the US, where he is a permanent resident, since the end of May. He said the government requires Chinese travelers to provide two documents — an Exit and Entry Permit for the Taiwan Area of the Republic of China and an official travel pass for Chinese people — to enter Taiwan.
“In my case, a Chinese passport is out of the question, so I have been asked to provide a re-entry permit issued by the US instead,” Wang said during an interview with radio host Clara Chou (周玉蔻) yesterday morning.
“Since it will take months for me to obtain a US re-entry permit — as it can take a long time for US immigration to process the application — I am simply asking whether it is possible for me to enter Taiwan with the entry permit and my US Green Card,” he said, adding that the Green Card could even better prove that he would be allowed to return to the US.
“I’ve been enrolled in the NHI and have paid my premiums. It’s not like I’m not entitled to the health benefits because I’m a foreigner,” he said.
NIA official Chang Su-hong (張素紅), who joined the interview, said the issuance of the re-entry permit is under “the US’ jurisdiction” and suggested that Wang appeal to the US “since the US is a country of human rights.”
Wang also wrote on Facebook that he respects the Taiwanese government’s decision not to offer help out of humanitarian concern and would seek help from the US Congress and US Department of State to accelerate the processing of his travel documents.
However, he added that it is “completely legitimate” for him to return to Taiwan with a Green Card and a Taiwan entry permit.
Some commentators have denounced Wang’s appeal as a request for special privilege.
Before the interview, Chou, a political pundit, slammed those who derided Wang for his appeal for help, calling their responses “despicable.”
“Affiliates of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) are criticizing Wang, although the KMT strongly supported him back in 1989,” Chou said.
“One of those who voiced strong support for the Chinese dissident years ago was President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九),” Chou said. “I wonder whether [their opposition to Wang] now is because Wang sided with [the Sunflower movement] and is on good terms with his student Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷), one of the movement’s student leaders.”
Chou said that Ma had previously convened a meeting in the Presidential Office chastising National Chengchi University for its failure to find a way to allow baker Wu Pao-chun (吳寶春) — who won the Bakery Master title at the Bakery World Cup in Paris in 2010 and the owner of Wupaochun Bakery — to enroll in the university’s Executive Master of Business Administration program despite only having a junior-high school diploma.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS