An amendment to the Nationality Act (國籍法) aimed at reducing the inequality in provisions for Chinese and other foreign spouses applying to become naturalized citizens yesterday passed a legislative committee review.
Committee members agreed to move toward removing the financial threshold that non-Chinese foreign spouses must pass before they can be granted citizenship.
The act states that non-Chinese foreigners must have a “certain degree of wealth or professional skills to be self-sufficient” before they can become a citizen.
A provision requiring non-Chinese to give up their original nationality before they apply for citizenship is to be amended to allow them a one-year grace period during which they can hold dual-citizenship, to avoid the possibility of them being denied citizenship after giving up their original nationality, legislators said.
Foreigners who are unable to abandon their original nationality for legal reasons or administrative procedures would be excused beyond the one-year period to do so on a later date.
Meanwhile, a draft amendment proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) to reduce the required waiting period for Chinese spouses before they can apply for citizenship from six years to four also passed a preliminary review.
This proposal would set an across-the-board, four-year waiting period for all foreign spouses wanting to obtain citizenship if it passes a third reading.
The proposal passed the first reading smoothly, without objection from Democratic Progressive Party legislators.
Yesterday’s review also saw legislators move to revise the language used in a provision stating that all expatriates must be “morally sound and without criminal records” to be permitted to apply for citizenship.
Several legislators said that the “morally sound” wording was too abstract.
The provision is to be changed to “without indecent conduct and without valid criminal records,” with legislators saying that they would ask the Ministry of the Interior to put together a panel of experts to determine how to define “indecent conduct.”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday said that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival-threatening situation," Takaichi was quoted as saying in the report. Under Japan’s security legislation,
RSS