A group of Taiwanese living in Norway lost a lawsuit filed last year against the Norwegian government, accusing it of improperly changing their nationality from “Taiwanese” to “Chinese” on their residency permits.
A district court in Oslo on Tuesday last week ruled that the Norwegian government abides by the “one China” policy and so does not diplomatically recognize Taiwan.
The authorities’ decision to change the nationality of Taiwanese residing in the country to Chinese was in line with the government’s policy, so the lawsuit was without merit, the court said.
The lawsuit was filed by three Taiwanese on Aug. 29 last year and named the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration, the Immigration Appeals Board and the Oslo Police District as defendants.
One of the three Taiwanese plaintiffs, a lawyer who only identified himself as Joseph, said that Norwegian authorities first changed the nationality on their residency permits to Chinese in 2010, prompting him to launch a movement to urge the Norwegian government to change the policy.
Despite repeated protests, the Norwegian government failed to respond, which made many Taiwanese residents and students in the country angry, so they decided to file the lawsuit, Joseph said.
Although the ruling was widely expected, they have decided to appeal, he said.
As the judge did not give the plaintiffs the chance to express themselves in court, their right to a fair trial was violated, he added.
The other two plaintiffs are a Taiwanese married to a Norwegian citizen and a Taiwanese post doctoral candidate.
Joseph has said that if they lost the lawsuit, they would file an appeal all the way to the European Court of Human Rights to ensure that the world hears the voice of the Taiwanese people.
Joseph initiated an online fundraising campaign in the second half of last year to raise funds for the lawsuit. To date, they have raised about NT$3.5 million (US$117,442), he said.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
RSS