The Cross-Strait Marriage Harmony Promotion Association of the ROC held a silent protest in Taipei yesterday outside the National Police Agency's Immigration Office, demanding fair treatment for Chinese spouses in immigration matters.
"On March 1 this year, a new regulation in the Statute Governing the Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) was added. Chinese spouses receiving a national identification card are now subject to security clearance by a panel of officials. Yet there was no announcement of this measure prior to the new regulations being enacted," association secretary-general Liu Hsien-wen (劉獻文) said.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Liu said that before the new regulations were introduced, any applications for the permanent-residence identification cards for Chinese spouses only took five days. But since April 15, some Chinese spouses who had filed for applications had yet to receive their cards.
"We then called on the authorities for an update on the status of Chinese spouses and were then informed of the new regulation," Liu said.
In response, Steve Wu (吳學燕), deputy commissioner of the Immigration Office, said that the new regulation had been publicly announced last year.
"On Dec. 29, the bureau announced the introduction of the Regulation for Application for Residency and Permanent Residency of Chinese Spouses (大陸地區人民在台灣地區依親居留長期居留和定居許可辦法)," Wu said.
The Immigration Office's Web site (www.immigration.gov.tw) also noted the new regulation's introduction last Dec. 29, he said.
According to Article 33 of the regulation, authorities in charge of residency matters for spouses from China may invite representatives from the National Security Council, the Mainland Affairs Council, the Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Investigation and other associated agencies to convene a review panel.
Liu said that Chinese spouses who failed port-of-entry interviews when entering the country for the first time were not entitled to ask why they had been rejected.
"The statute stipulates that for the purposes of national security, no explanations are required to be gievn for the cancelation of entry permits for Chinese nationals," Liu said.
Liu hoped the government would begin treating Chinese spouses in the same way as spouses from other countries.
But Wu said that Chinese spouses who failed the interviews were still able to petition for a review.
"In the case of rejected interviewees, they can file [with the office]. On average, we receive 200 to 300 petitions every month," Wu said.
As for the protest, Liu said that once his organization had collected 10,000 signatures, it would present the petition to the relevant authorities.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and