Fri, May 31, 2002 page2

• DPP lawmakers warn of Chinese immigrant flood

  • By Tsai Ting-I / STAFF REPORTER
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  DPP legislators yesterday warned that opposition-proposed amendments to the Statute Governing the Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) would lead to a flood of Chinese immigrants.

  Both the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and a good number of legislators have submitted draft amendments to the statute to the legislature over the past few months.

  Opposition lawmakers want to relax restrictions on cross-strait exchanges while the MAC favors a more cautious approach.

  DPP Legislator Lai Ching-teh (賴清德) and DPP Legislator Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) yesterday warned that PFP lawmakers Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) and Sun Ta-chien's (孫大千) amendments to Articles 16 and 17 of the statute could cause problems for Taiwan.

  "According to the government's figures, Chinese brides have inherited more than NT$300 million from Taiwanese. Allowing more Chinese brides to obtain Taiwan residencies would only create additional problems," Chiu said.

  Chiu was referring to Sun Ta-chien's (孫大千) amendment to Article 17, which would allow Chinese brides to receive their residencies after they had been married to Taiwanese and lived in Taiwan for two years. The amendment would also lift the statute's residency quota, which states that only 3,600 Chinese wives can obtain residency annually.

  Currently, the regulation states that Chinese brides who are married to Taiwanese and have lived in Taiwan for two years are allowed to apply for Taiwanese residency. But because of the quota, even after meeting the statute's requirements, many Chinese wives wait several years to obtain residency.

  Earlier this year, the MAC decided to grant residency to brides who have waited a total of four years. Government statistics indicate that there are 42,410 Chinese wives who have fulfilled the statute's requirements and await approval of their residencies.

  Opposition party legislators, however, are not satisfied with the MAC's reforms.

  "Sun faces pressure from voters, but we have to be concerned about the impact on society," said Jeff Yang (楊家駿), deputy director of the MAC.

  Lai also attacked Lee Ching-hua's amendment to Article 16, which states that Taiwan should allow all Taiwanese citizens' Chinese relatives who are over 70 years old to immigrate to Taiwan.

  At yesterday's conference, Lai warned that the amendment would result in an immeasurable number of Chinese relatives immigrating to Taiwan.

  "The change would increase Taiwan's aging population and the burden on Taiwan's welfare system," Lai warned.

  Based on Article 16, relatives of Taiwanese citizens who are over 70 years old or under 12 years old who live in China are eligible for residency in Taiwan; but it also states that the government has the right to control the number of Chinese allowed to immigrate to Taiwan.

  At present, those controls allow just 60 relatives of Taiwanese citizens over the age of 70 to immigrate from China annually. There is no limit on children 12 years old or under and those in between 12 and 70 are forbidden to immigrate.

  "The number of Chinese relatives that could be brought in after they immigrate to Taiwan would be uncountable," Yang said.

  Lee's assistant, Lin Cheng-hong (林政宏), admitted that they submitted the proposal without evaluation.

  "According to statistics from the Bureau of Immigration, there are only 175 Chinese citizens who have applied for residency here and we think that Taiwan should allow them to immigrate," Lin said.

  "We could raise our quota, if it is necessary. But I don't see why it is necessary to amend the article," Yang added.
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