Chinese spouses’ residency would only start counting toward the one decade naturalization requirement after they provide the authorities with official documentation proving that they have renounced their Chinese residency, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said.
The MAC issued the clarification to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) following the controversy regarding the residency of former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislator-at-large Li Zhenxiu (李貞秀).
Li, the first Chinese spouse to serve in the legislature, has since taking office in February been embroiled in controversy over her residency status. She married a Taiwanese in 1993 and obtained residency in 1999, but only provided the government with documentation regarding the renunciation of her Chinese residence last year.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
Article 21 of the act states that Chinese nationals could only register as candidates for public office, become teachers or public servants, work at state-owned corporations or establish political parties a decade after obtaining residency.
The clock counting toward the decade requirement would only start after the Chinese spouse provides the government with official documentation of the renunciation of their Chinese residency, the MAC said.
The MAC cited Article 17, Paragraph 5, Subparagraph 5 of the act, which states that Chinese spouses who have been residing in Taiwan for more than 183 days per year for two years must provide proof of renunciation of Chinese residency; as well as Article 34, Paragraph 3 of the Measures for the Permission of Family-based Residence, Long-term Residence and Settlement of People from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民在台灣地區依親居留長期居留或定居許可辦法) as legal bases of Chinese spouses’ residency status.
Without formal documentation of Chinese residency renunciation, per Paragraph 4, Article 2 and Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, that person is still considered a citizen of China, it said.
People who cannot provide such documentation and prove that they legally obtained Taiwanese residency would be unable to claim the rights available to Taiwanese citizens, the MAC said.
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