Chiayi on Tuesday became the first city outside of the six special municipalities to adopt the same-sex couples’ addendum, but the measure was criticized by same-sex couples as being too little, too late.
The addendum allows same-sex couples to exercise the same rights as family members in medical emergencies, such as signing surgery release forms and being allowed to visit hospitalized partners.
Chiayi Mayor Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) told a news conference that the household registration offices in the East District (東區) and West District (西區) will begin processing registration applications by same-sex couples next month.
However, a man using the pseudonym “66” complained at the news conference that the move came too late and offered too little.
Citing the Tainan City Government’s adoption of the addendum, “66” said applicants in Tainan were able to have the addendum stamped on their household registration documents, but Chiayi does not allow such open registration. It also requires both partners to be registered residents of Chiayi, he said.
While the city government has made an effort to promote same-sex rights, the limitations have dampened the spirits of many of his friends, he said.
Chiayi officials said that the addendum could not be openly marked on household registration documents because it lacks legal backing, as same-sex marriage has yet to be legalized in the nation.
Twu also said that the city’s announcement was a tentative first step before the Civic Code could be amended to legalize same-sex marriage, and the city government is open to suggestions on how to improve the measures.
Representatives of several groups who attended the news conference called on the government to be more active in promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.
They suggested incorporating same-sex issues into sex education, hosting activities involving LGBT groups and establishing a friendlier working and medical environments toward LGBT people.
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
PROBLEMATIC APP: Citing more than 1,000 fraud cases, the government is taking the app down for a year, but opposition voices are calling it censorship Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday decried a government plan to suspend access to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書) for one year as censorship, while the Presidential Office backed the plan. The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday cited security risks and accusations that the Instagram-like app, known as Rednote in English, had figured in more than 1,700 fraud cases since last year. The company, which has about 3 million users in Taiwan, has not yet responded to requests for comment. “Many people online are already asking ‘How to climb over the firewall to access Xiaohongshu,’” Cheng posted on
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS