The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it had spoken with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Auckland, after a Taiwanese woman in the New Zealand city was denied services while applying for a driver’s license.
The woman, surnamed Lai (賴), had visited a New Zealand Automobile Association (AA) branch at Westgate Shopping Center in Auckland.
When Lai gave her application to a staff member, she was told that it could not be processed as Lai had written “Taiwan” as her country of birth, she said, New Zealand news Web site Stuff reported.
Photo: Screen grab from the Web site of the New Zealand Automobile Association
The staff member “appeared to be a Chinese lady. I expected her to ask me to do the eyesight test and take a photo,” Lai said. “Instead, she picked up the phone and called someone. She then told me that because I listed Taiwan as my birthplace, she couldn’t process my application.”
When Lai asked another customer service representative to process her application, they told her to write her birth country as “Thailand,” she said.
The situation left her “frustrated,” Lai said, adding that she left the AA office and went to a Vehicle Testing New Zealand site to take her test, which she completed within half an hour.
Lai also wrote a letter of complaint to AA, saying that the first staff member she spoke with “clearly held very strong political opinions.”
Stuff reported that it had spoken with AA Centre Network head Julian Travaglia, who apologized over the incident.
“We can confirm there are no restrictions regarding place of birth on the NZTA [New Zealand Transport Agency] licensing process — Taiwan is a valid option and we regret this wasn’t sorted quickly and efficiently for Ms Lai,” Travaglia said, adding that AA would improve its training.
The ministry said it had instructed Taiwan’s representative office in Auckland to take action to express Taiwan’s position on its sovereignty, and to protect the rights of Taiwanese in New Zealand.
“We will continue to demand corrective action wherever Taiwanese are improperly referred to or are treated unfairly,” it said.
Members of the public could also report denials of the rights of Taiwanese directly to the ministry or to its overseas missions wherever they occur, it said.
Lai said it was good that AA had apologized and intended to improve its training, but she remained unhappy about the treatment she encountered.
“My youngest [child] started to cry, as he’s never seen mum and dad this stressed,” she said.
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