Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators have been defending the involvement of Chinese spouses in politics. Some officials said it is a human rights issue, others said they would respect the Legislative Yuan’s decision, while several said loyalty to the Republic of China must come first.
Given the state of cross-strait relations, the political rights of Chinese spouses should be restricted — especially those who still hold People’s Republic of China (PRC) citizenship.
The Constitution stipulates that citizens must be at least 20 years old to vote and at least 23 to be eligible for election. In other words, only citizens who have lived in Taiwan for 23 years can run for public office and exercise their right to political participation.
However, the KMT caucus has proposed shortening the residency requirement for Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship from six years to four. It has also proposed an amendment to the Nationality Act (國籍法) that would exempt Chinese spouses from renouncing their PRC citizenship when running for public office, making Chinese spouses eligible to run for public office after living in Taiwan for just four years — a policy wildly unfair to Taiwanese who have lived here their entire lives.
Given the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) hostility toward Taiwan, limits on the length of time Chinese spouses must reside in the nation before obtaining citizenship, and constraints on their political participation rights must be maintained.
Any Chinese citizen who marries a Taiwanese has, in effect, already received approval from the CCP. Although it is inaccurate to say that every Chinese spouse has political motives, anyone who wishes to engage Taiwanese politics should renounce their PRC citizenship and pledge exclusive loyalty to Taiwan. This ensures that they would not become candidates for the CCP’s “united front” operations as it seeks internal collaborators in Taiwan.
Local governments and the Legislative Yuan must jointly uphold loyalty to Taiwan. Before speaking of protecting Chinese spouses’ human rights, they should first work to protect the sovereignty of Taiwanese. Only when the nation’s sovereignty is ensured could its citizens truly enjoy human rights.
Chen Chi-nung is a political commentator.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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