Debates Over 'Chinese Spouses' in Taiwan, Explained

TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan is home to over 360,000 "Chinese spouses," a common term for Chinese nationals who are married to Taiwanese citizens and living in Taiwan. As cross-strait tensions rise, these people have often found themselves at the center of debate, facing unique legal complications rooted in history.

Transcript

00:00In recent years, there has been a lot of controversy in Taiwan surrounding one particular group of people,

00:06Chinese citizens who are married to Taiwanese citizens and living in Taiwan,

00:10commonly known here as Chinese spouses.

00:14Currently, there are over 360,000 of them, one of the largest groups of Chinese people living in Taiwan.

00:21Amid tense and often complicated relations between Taiwan and China,

00:25with government-to-government communication completely shut off,

00:28tourism restricted, and China threatening to take Taiwan by force if it considers necessary,

00:33Chinese spouses have often found themselves at the center of debate within Taiwan.

00:42In March, three Chinese spouses were deported from the country.

00:47After posting videos on social media,

00:49the authorities said advocated the unification of China and Taiwan by force.

00:54They deemed the videos a threat to national security and social stability,

00:58amid anger and controversy that spilled over onto the streets.

01:02Go back to China!

01:03Go back to China!

01:06This controversy reignited debates that have been going on for years in Taiwan

01:11over immigration policies for Chinese spouses.

01:14Some want stricter policies, while others support easing them.

01:17One major question that's arisen is why Chinese spouses are treated differently than immigrants from other countries,

01:23while most foreigners have to give up their original citizenship to become citizens of Taiwan,

01:28Chinese spouses only need to give up their household registration in China.

01:31The core of this issue is how Taiwan's law defines this group of people,

01:36something rooted in history.

01:41Decades ago, the government of the Republic of China, which is Taiwan's official name,

01:46retreated to Taiwan from mainland China,

01:48as they were losing the Chinese civil war to Mao Zedong's communists.

01:51The ROC established a government in exile in Taiwan that still claims sovereignty over both sides of the strait,

01:58hoping one day to take back the mainland.

02:01But that never materialized.

02:04Today, the ROC only governs Taiwan and its outlying islands,

02:08while mainland China is ruled by the Chinese Communist Party.

02:11But Taiwan's laws still describe China and Taiwan not as separate states,

02:17but as two different areas within the same country, the ROC,

02:22called the mainland area and the Taiwan area.

02:25Under this legal framework, experts say Chinese citizens are not considered foreigners,

02:30so they can't naturalize in the traditional sense of the word.

02:33But they also aren't seen as ROC citizens either.

02:36Instead, they're treated as a special group, governed by special legislation,

02:41which differentiates them from Taiwanese people,

02:44not by citizenship, but by household registration,

02:47which confirms the physical address of where you actually live.

02:51So, Chinese spouses who want to obtain Taiwanese national ID cards

02:55and all the rights awarded to Taiwanese citizens, like the right to vote,

02:58can do so by switching their household registration from China to Taiwan.

03:03This is a process that generally takes six years,

03:06starting with getting marriage-based residency,

03:08then after living in Taiwan for at least four years,

03:11long-term residency, and then after two more years,

03:14something called registered permanent residency,

03:17a status that allows them to apply for household registration in Taiwan,

03:21a national ID card, and a passport.

03:23In April, these immigration processes were thrown into the spotlight

03:27when Taiwan's government asked over 12,000 Chinese spouses

03:30who had obtained registered permanent residency status in Taiwan

03:34and their children to provide proof that they had given up

03:37their household registration in China within three months,

03:40by June 30th, or risk losing their legal status in Taiwan.

03:44The announcement sent many scrambling, causing confusion and panic,

03:49especially among those who have reportedly lived in Taiwan

03:51for decades without a problem.

03:53This isn't a new requirement.

04:05It had been in place since 2004.

04:08But officials said some cases had fallen through the cracks.

04:11In response to the pushback, the government set up support mechanisms,

04:28like hotlines and in-person briefings,

04:31and offered exemptions or extensions to Chinese spouses

04:33who had legitimate difficulties getting the required documents.

04:37After the deadline passed,

04:38officials said the large majority of Chinese spouses

04:40had complied with the rule,

04:42with fewer than 1,700 who haven't.

04:45Legal complications have also created controversy

04:48surrounding Chinese spouses seeking to enter politics in Taiwan.

04:53Last December, Shi Xue-yen,

04:55a Chinese spouse who had previously served

04:57as a county counselor in central Taiwan,

05:00had her status as a public official revoked by the government

05:02because she had not given up her Chinese citizenship

05:05before being sworn in.

05:06Taiwan's Cross-Strait Act says Chinese spouses

05:09can run for public office

05:10after having household registration in Taiwan for 10 years.

05:14But Taiwan's Nationality Act

05:15requires all public officials

05:17to renounce any other citizenship

05:19before taking office.

05:21Shi has appealed the decision in court,

05:23arguing that Chinese spouses

05:24are not considered foreign nationals,

05:27so the requirement of giving up foreign nationality

05:29is not applicable to them.

05:30Some have spoken out in support of Shi,

05:51saying she wouldn't be able to give up her Chinese citizenship

05:53even if she wanted to.

05:55They argue that under Chinese law,

05:57to give up Chinese citizenship,

05:59Chinese people have to become a citizen of a different country.

06:02But China doesn't recognize Taiwan as a country,

06:05so it might not be possible for Chinese spouses

06:07to satisfy that requirement.

06:09But others have cited national security concerns

06:12as a reason why Taiwan should not allow people

06:14with dual citizenship to hold public office,

06:17especially those from a country

06:18that has intensified efforts to infiltrate Taiwan.

06:21One expert says the fundamental reason

06:23why this requirement exists

06:25is because people with more than one nationality

06:27also have obligations to more than one country.

06:30All this shows how the complexities of cross-strait relations

06:57and history play out daily in Taiwan

06:59in big and small ways,

07:01entrenched in its legal framework,

07:03its immigration processes,

07:05and likely the subject of continued debates.

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