The number of Taiwanese who were no longer considered official citizens last year rose to 759, up 16.41 percent from the previous year, statistics released yesterday by the Ministry of the Interior show.
The ministry said the figure represents a new high since 2011.
About 90 percent, or 716 people, relinquished their Taiwanese nationality of their own volition, 36 lost their nationality along with their parents and five people married foreigners, emigrated abroad or became citizens of other nations.
About half of those who gave up their Taiwanese nationality — 336 people — became South Korean nationals, with 137 people becoming Japanese nationals and 137 people becoming Singaporean nationals, with 45 becoming US nationals and 30 German nationals.
The ministry said that the number of people who became naturalized Taiwanese citizens dropped from 4,399 in 2014 to 3,612 last year, mostly because international marriages involving mostly foreign women marrying Taiwanese men have declined in recent years.
Taiwan’s move to step up interviews of international couples to deter fake marriages has been one reason for the decline.
Strong economic growth in developing nations has also led more women choosing to stay in their own country, rather than marry Taiwanese men and move to the nation.
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