Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jennifer Wang (王如玄) and China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) Chairman Chang An-le (張安樂), better known as the White Wolf, attended the Chinese Women’s Federation general meeting yesterday, at which Chang lashed out at the KMT for failing to allow Chinese spouses enjoy the four-year residency requirement for obtaining Republic of China residency that spouses from other nations do.
The Chinese Women’s Federation was founded in 2013 by Chinese spouses to promote the group’s interests. The meeting was attended by KMT politicians.
Wang said that new immigrants are “mothers of Taiwanese children” and each is “one of our own,” adding that various measures benefiting new immigrants, such as granting them the right to work and participate in occupational training before obtaining residency, were made possible when the KMT was in office and when she was Minister for the Council of Labor Affairs.
“It is not easy to make room [for those new measures] as some parties deem new immigrants as ‘not of our kind,’” Wang said.
It takes Chinese spouses six years to become residents, whereas for spouses from other nations it takes four years.
“Are [Chinese spouses] second-class citizens compared with Southeast Asian [spouses]?” Chang said after Wang left the meeting, adding that Wang failed to promise to make reforms.
Hung, who arrived at the meeting after Wang left, asked supporters to vote for the KMT, saying the Democratic Progressive Party and the Taiwan Solidarity Union, have been obstructing legislative proceedings.
Hung said President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has made great advances in diplomatic and cross-strait affairs, but Taiwan’s livelihood might be destroyed when there are people espousing anti-China and China-hating rhetoric, adding that the KMT is a “middle-way and rational” party that “walks through big doors and on big roads” and is not familiar with propaganda and political tactics.
Chang said: “The KMT has lost its party soul; [the people of] the KMT do not dare acknowledge that they are Chinese. The party’s soul is with Hung.”
“The KMT wants our support, that is fine, but it has to promise that after we send its candidates to the legislature, the party would grant Chinese spouses equal rights to the four-year requirement for obtaining national identity,” Chang added.
“With the KMT in office, the requirement for the Chinese spouses has been lowered from eight to six years,” Hung said, adding that the two additional years is “discriminatory” and “unequal.”
Hung said the KMT would make an effort to change the requirement.
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association has cautioned Japanese travelers to be vigilant against pickpockets at several popular tourist spots in Taiwan, including Taipei’s night markets, the Yongkang Street area, Zhongshan MRT Station, and Jiufen (九份) in New Taipei City. The advisory, titled “Recent Development of Concerns,” was posted on the association’s Web site under its safety and emergency report section. It urges travelers to keep backpacks fully zipped and carried in front, with valuables placed at the bottom of the bag. Visitors are advised to be especially mindful of their belongings when taking photos or speaking on the phone, avoid storing wallets and
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