A group of Chinese spouses of Taiwan citizens yesterday urged the government to ease restrictions on their stay in Taiwan and on their gaining Taiwanese citizenship.
The spouses made the appeal at a press conference convened by Legislator Tina Pan (
Pan noted that 59,185 Chinese wives of Taiwan citizens have applied to stay in Taiwan and that only 16,620 have gained approval, and more than 40,000 are still waiting.
If they are forced to wait according to the annual quota of 3,600 set by the government, many will have to wait for 12 years before they can receive resident status.
She called such a long waiting period "inhumane," vowing that she would propose a revision of the regulations in the next legislative session in order to ease the restrictions. This would enable Chinese brides to obtain residency in Taiwan as soon as possible.
He Shun-shun, the Chinese wife of popular entertainer Ling Feng, said that she finally won the right to work in Taiwan after waiting for a decade.
Chen Yen, who used to teach at an art school in China, has been married to a citizen of Taiwan for two years. Noting that her husband is old and has a low income, she said she cannot imagine what might happen if she has to wait for more than 10 years to obtain an ID card in Taiwan.
She asked why Chinese spouses of Taiwanese citizens have to wait for more than 10 years when those from Thailand only need wait three years at the most.
The Chinese wives also expressed mixed views about the Executive Yuan's announcement Friday that it would open Taiwan from the start of next year on a trial basis to a limited number of Chinese tourists who are overseas students or permanent residents of other countries.
Ho said this step represents only the beginning and that after Taiwan and China both enter the WTO, more openings will be inevitable.
If Chinese can come to Taiwan, this will be very positive, she said, adding optimistically that she believes that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will be able to dissolve their misunderstandings about each other through mutual exchanges.
But Chen said the government still has too many restrictions in place which does not help her, pointing out that she has two children in China and that only one of them at a time can come to visit her under the current regulations.
She said that she cannot understand why the government is placing so many restrictions on Chinese, adding that "there is no need to be so nervous."
Another Chinese bride, named Ying Yuan-yuan, said that the figure of only 1,000 Chinese tourists to be allowed to visit Taiwan per day is "a paltry number" and will not "give enough economic benefits to Taiwan."
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
RSS