Since January, it appears that Denmark has been recording Taiwanese in the country who need resident permits as “Chinese.” We in Taiwan Corner have also seen writing describing Taiwanese as “citizens of China with a Taiwanese passport.” In this way, Denmark’s “one China policy” seems to be moving closer to China’s “one China principle.” Even if there has been no actual policy movement, there has certainly been confusion. Denmark, having stumbled into this difficulty, must answer this important question.
The significance of addressing this issue has been underscored by the reaction from Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen. The minister responded after the Danish newspaper Berlingske, and people in Denmark and Taiwan all drew public attention to the registering of Taiwanese as Chinese.
Rasmussen said that he would investigate the reason for this and what other like-minded countries do. He would then see if an alternative solution could be found which is in line with Denmark’s “one China policy.”
Rasmussen’s response can be tentatively viewed as a positive sign, suggesting the potential reinstatement of designations that recognize Taiwanese residents in Denmark as such — an outcome favored by the Taiwanese community there.
One could fear that because Denmark has moved toward Beijing’s “one China principle,” it would be harder to quickly go back to registering Taiwanese as “Taiwanese” due to fear of a possible angry response from China.
It shows how easy it is for governments around the world to stumble into unnecessary controversy, from which they will find it difficult to roll back.
This leads to a discussion of other alternative solutions and unacceptable designations. These include the meaningless “Chinese Taipei,” which is used typically at sporting events, or even worse, “Taiwan, China” or “Taiwan, province of China.” Another possibility is to not list any nationality at all for Taiwanese, leaving a blank and undetermined space.
All this is speculation, of course, but it is worrying that the Danish foreign ministry’s Web site says that in China, Denmark has representative offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Taipei. Rasmussen said, according to Berlingske newspaper, that the decision to register Taiwanese as Chinese was not decided by his ministry. However, it must have been set by officials somewhere in the Danish government system, and we can assume that the text of its official Web site was decided by the Danish foreign ministry.
The pretext for registering Taiwanese as “Chinese” appears to be that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under international law. However, Denmark allows persons from Palestine to be registered with the birthplace and designation “Palestine” following a law from late 2021, even though Denmark does not recognize Palestine.
The question that remains unanswered is what the precise reason was for changing the registration policy for Taiwanese — a decision affecting 24 million people’s nationality and angering many Taiwanese in Denmark. An impact analysis seems to be missing here. Did they think such a change would be uncontroversial and not merit proper review?
Taiwan has been garnering substantial international support, being recognized as a vibrant democracy facing threats from China and possessing considerable economic significance globally.
Meanwhile, Denmark’s preoccupation with the classification of Taiwan diverts from potentially more productive engagements, such as fosteringexpanding relations with Taiwan.
The current geopolitical situation in the world demands a better use of our time.
Michael Danielsen is chairman of Taiwan Corner.
Chinese actor Alan Yu (于朦朧) died after allegedly falling from a building in Beijing on Sept. 11. The actor’s mysterious death was tightly censored on Chinese social media, with discussions and doubts about the incident quickly erased. Even Hong Kong artist Daniel Chan’s (陳曉東) post questioning the truth about the case was automatically deleted, sparking concern among overseas Chinese-speaking communities about the dark culture and severe censorship in China’s entertainment industry. Yu had been under house arrest for days, and forced to drink with the rich and powerful before he died, reports said. He lost his life in this vicious
A recent trio of opinion articles in this newspaper reflects the growing anxiety surrounding Washington’s reported request for Taiwan to shift up to 50 percent of its semiconductor production abroad — a process likely to take 10 years, even under the most serious and coordinated effort. Simon H. Tang (湯先鈍) issued a sharp warning (“US trade threatens silicon shield,” Oct. 4, page 8), calling the move a threat to Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” which he argues deters aggression by making Taiwan indispensable. On the same day, Hsiao Hsi-huei (蕭錫惠) (“Responding to US semiconductor policy shift,” Oct. 4, page 8) focused on
George Santayana wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This article will help readers avoid repeating mistakes by examining four examples from the civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forces and the Republic of China (ROC) forces that involved two city sieges and two island invasions. The city sieges compared are Changchun (May to October 1948) and Beiping (November 1948 to January 1949, renamed Beijing after its capture), and attempts to invade Kinmen (October 1949) and Hainan (April 1950). Comparing and contrasting these examples, we can learn how Taiwan may prevent a war with
In South Korea, the medical cosmetic industry is fiercely competitive and prices are low, attracting beauty enthusiasts from Taiwan. However, basic medical risks are often overlooked. While sharing a meal with friends recently, I heard one mention that his daughter would be going to South Korea for a cosmetic skincare procedure. I felt a twinge of unease at the time, but seeing as it was just a casual conversation among friends, I simply reminded him to prioritize safety. I never thought that, not long after, I would actually encounter a patient in my clinic with a similar situation. She had
RSS