The Ministry of the Interior yesterday said it is willing to assist Taiwan-based Ukrainian actress and model Larisa Bakurova in her efforts to seek Republic of China (ROC) citizenship.
Bakurova, who has worked in Taiwan for more than seven years and who married a Taiwanese last year, earlier this month said that she had wanted to renounce her Ukrainian nationality and obtain Taiwanese nationality for the past three years, but has been unable to do so at Ukrainian embassies overseas, reportedly because Taiwan and Ukraine do not have formal ties.
Bakurova holds a Taiwanese permanent resident certificate.
Photo: Chen Yi-chuan, Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) questioned Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) over the issue during a legislative session yesterday, in which Chen said that his ministry is “willing to assist” Bakurova.
Wanda Chang (張琬宜), head of the ministry’s Department of Household Registration Affairs, said that as far as her ministry knows, it is the first case involving a Ukrainian citizen seeking ROC citizenship.
Chang said that after Bakurova renounces her Ukrainian nationality and provides the renunciation certificate to the Taiwan government, she can apply to be naturalized as an ROC citizen.
In response to media reports that the Ukrainian government has rejected Bakurova’s application to relinquish her Ukrainian nationality, Chang cited Taiwan’s Nationality Act (國籍法) as saying that if Bakurova cannot obtain the renunciation certificate for reasons beyond her control, and foreign affairs authorities investigate and determine that it is true, then Bakurova does not need to provide the certificate.
Bakurova took to Facebook yesterday to express her gratitude for the support she has received. “I cried... Truly, thank you. Thank you Taiwan,” she wrote.
Bakurova has acted in TV dramas and films, including They Kiss Again, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart and Young Dudes.
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
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
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