Taiwan's government yesterday rejected an online petition that asked for the abolishment of a rule requiring long-term foreign residents to renounce their original nationality as a prerequisite when applying for Taiwanese citizenship.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) rejected the petition, which was submitted by civil society organization Crossroads on Aug. 19, by citing the "principle of a single-nationality system" and "taking into account the problems of our country's small territory, dense population, limited resources and national loyalty."
"If foreign nationals who have lived permanently for five years [in Taiwan] can naturalize without having to prove the loss of their original nationality, it may have a significant negative impact on our country's finances, social welfare, and national security," the MOI said in a statement rejecting the petition.
Photo: CNA
"The naturalization system is formulated according to the needs of our country," the statement added, without elaborating.
The MOI also noted exceptions to the rule for "high-level professionals" and "those who have made outstanding contributions."
The petition, which obtained 5,746 online "signatures," had asked the Taiwanese government to "grant immigrants who have legally resided in Taiwan for more than five years as permanent residents a standardized pathway to naturalization without requiring them to renounce their original nationality(s)."
Under current rules, nearly all foreign nationals seeking to naturalize as Taiwanese citizens must first give up their original nationality, a requirement that does not exist in the naturalization policies of countries like the US, Canada, France, Italy and the UK.
Meanwhile, most countries that ban dual citizenship such as Singapore do so for both their own adult citizens and foreign-born applicants while Taiwan’s dual citizenship ban only applies to foreign applicants and not Taiwan nationals, which Crossroads highlighted.
"Taiwan already permits millions of native-born citizens to hold multiple nationalities and reside abroad without question," the civil society group said in a statement on Facebook yesterday.
"Denying the same opportunity to naturalized citizens who live and contribute to Taiwan daily seems inconsistent."
The group said that Taiwan's exceptions to the nationality-renouncing rule are "too narrow" and resulted in "an average of fewer than 50 individuals per year" naturalizing as dual citizens since 2016.
"Currently, there are nearly 40,000 permanent residents, only 0.1 percent of the entire population," Crossroads said in response to the MOI's petition rejection notice.
"With the population expected to shrink dramatically from its peak of 23.6 million in 2019 to approximately 15 million by 2070," the group said, citing official statistics, Taiwan faces a "severe demographic decline" which "underscores the urgency of attracting and retaining contributors to Taiwan's economy and society."
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS