It was announced yesterday that Taiwan is to further liberalize regulations on the rights of Chinese wives of Taiwan nationals to remain in Taiwan, allowing those who are pregnant to stay in Taiwan for up to one year, and extending the right for three years once they have given birth.
Currently, Chinese brides are allowed to enter Taiwan to visit their husbands for up to six months if not pregnant. Those who are seven months or more pregnant may remain for one year.
The government will also double the maximum period that Chinese spouses who have applied for Taiwan residence permits may spend abroad within a consecutive two-year period from 60 days to 120 days.
Because of national-security considerations Chinese spouses of Taiwanese nationals do not gain permanent-residence rights in Taiwan simply by virtue of their marriage. To acquire a permanent-residence permit they must first have been married for at least two years and then have lived in Taiwan for two years after submitting their application.
A quota of 3,600 residence permits is issued each year to Chinese nationals in Taiwan. Chinese spouses of Taiwan nationals whose applications are not included in the quota for two consecutive years are automatically issued with a residence permit four years after submitting their application.
The changes were approved at an inter-ministerial meeting yesterday and announced by the director of the Mainland Affairs Council's (MAC) department of legal affairs, Jeff Yang (
Yesterday's meeting also approved revisions that would entitle Chinese spouses of deceased, mentally retarded or physically handicapped Taiwanese nationals, who have parents-in-law over 65 year-old or children under 18 in Taiwan to apply to come to Taiwan to take care of such persons.
As to the extension of the number of days allowed to remain overseas while a permanent-residence permit is under application, Yang said the time constraints put Chinese spouses who wish to go home under a lot of pressure.
Air travel is prohibitively expensive for ordinary Chinese and it can take days to travel form one city to another by other means of transport.
"The extension from 60 days to 120 days can help improving this situation," Yang said.
The revision will benefit an estimated 130,000 cross-strait couples, according to statistics from the Straits Exchange Foundation.
The council will send the relevant administrative orders to the Executive Yuan for approval. Revisions of administrative orders do not need the approval of the Legislative Yuan.
MAC Vice Chairman Jonathon Liu (
The SEF released a newsletter on Wednesday saying that some Chinese brides had been ordered to abort their pregnancies during trips back to China since the beginning of last year.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
The Executive Yuan yesterday warned against traveling to or doing business in China after reports that Beijing is recruiting Taiwanese to help conceal the use of forced Uighur labor. The government is aware that Taiwan-based influencers and businesses are being asked to make pro-Beijing content and offered incentives to invest in the region, Executive Yuan acting spokeswoman Julia Hsieh (謝子涵) told a news conference. Taiwanese are urged to be aware of the potential personal and reputational harm by visiting or operating businesses in China, Hsieh said, adding that agencies are fully apprised of the situation. A national security official said that former Mainland
RSS