A sailor whose mother reportedly applied for a Chinese ID card on his behalf can keep his Taiwanese citizenship, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday.
The man, surnamed Yang (楊), serves in the navy’s 168th Fleet and holds a Chinese ID card, which was obtained 10 years ago by his Chinese mother.
The council met with the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday to discuss the situation.
Photo: Taipei Times
Yang’s mother applied for the card when he was a child, even though he explicitly expressed unwillingness to get one, the MAC said.
On Wednesday, he applied to Chinese authorities to annul his household registration in China, it said.
The government would not require Yang to travel to China to carry out the annulment procedure, as he is an active-duty soldier who is restricted from visiting China as a matter of national security, it said.
Given that Yang sought assistance from the government and took action to relinquish his Chinese citizenship, the agencies decided to retain his Taiwanese citizenship, the MAC said.
The decision was made in accordance with Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), which stipulates that in special cases, people can be exempt from revocation of Taiwanese citizenship, it added.
The act stipulates that Taiwanese with a household registration in China or a Chinese passport would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked and lose the rights to vote, recall, initiative and referendum, as well as other rights derived from Taiwanese citizenship, including serving in the military or public service, the council said, adding that the government would strictly impose the punishment on those who contravene the act.
To prevent Yang from stress due to intense public attention, the Ministry of National Defense and his supervisors would provide counseling and assistance, the MAC said.
His role and responsibilities would be properly rearranged to help develop his military career after the ministry completes its investigation, the council added.
MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said there are likely to be more cases of parents who applied for Chinese IDs on behalf of their children.
Many Taiwanese businesspeople in China possess Chinese IDs, as they had children and registered their residence there before moving back to Taiwan, he said.
Investigations would continue, with civil service agencies mobilized to aid the effort, Liang said.
From 2014 to last year, 676 people were stripped of their Taiwanese citizenship for possessing Chinese IDs, he said.
Taiwanese and Chinese citizenships have been mutually exclusive for the past 30 years, but the rule has been bent in China’s Fujian Province, where authorities do not require people to submit Taiwanese documents when applying for a Chinese ID, Liang said.
Taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲) and Su Shih-en (蘇士恩) had their Taiwanese citizenship revoked due to concurrent possession of Chinese citizenship, he said, calling on Beijing not to compromise the rules in its efforts to promote integrated cross-strait development.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
RSS