Taiwanese should be allowed to put “Republic of Taiwan” stickers on their passports, pro-independence activists said yesterday at a protest outside the Bureau of Consular Affairs building.
“People are able to smoothly go through [passport control using passports with stickers] on all major continents – the only officials who make things difficult are the border officials of the Republic of China,” said Chou Wei-li (周維理), the convener of the Restoration of Taiwan Social Justice student group.
Republic of China is Taiwan’s official name and is engraved on the cover of all Taiwanese passports above the national emblem, which is derived from the emblem of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Stickers promoted by the activists cover the “Republic of China” with the “Republic of Taiwan” as separate stickers are used to cover up the national emblem with images of national wildlife.
“The Republic of China passport causes Taiwanese to experience humiliation internationally,” said Free Taiwan Party Chairperson Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴), stating that the passport often led bearers to be confused with citizens of the People’s Republic of China, causing customs delays in countries which allow visa-free entry Taiwanese citizens.
Party spokesperson Lin Yu-lun (林于倫) said they were rallying to protest the comments made by Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) at the Legislative Yuan earlier this week, that using stickers to cover the “Republic of China” on passports would be illegal.
“If all you are doing is putting the demands you wish to express on the passport, that is not illegal in and of itself,” Lin said, stating that rules only forbid altering the content of the passports, such as manipulating the content of the smart chips or altering passport numbers.
The minister had stated three years ago that putting stickers that read “Taiwan is my country” on passports was legal in response to a movement at the time, Lin said.
After shouting slogans opposing the minster’s statements at the Legislative Yuan, Tsay attempted to climb into the consular affairs complex, but was stopped by police.
Kung Chung-chen (龔中誠) the Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bureau of Consular Affairs stated that the stickers would be illegal under amendments to the Passport Statute (護照條例) passed by the Legislative Yuan in May which are to go into effect in January.
He said that according to the regulations the ministry would have the authority to cancel any passport that bears the stickers, as well as extending the review process for passport renewal for people carrying passports with the stickers.
He added that people who put stickers on their passports risked customs problems, displaying an e-mail from the American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) director of consular affairs, which stated that if stickers were placed over the name “Republic of China,” US border officials would “reserve the right to seize the altered document and refuse the traveler’s entry.”
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
RSS