Protesters rally in Taipei against documentation rule for Chinese spouses

Taipei, May 11 (CNA) Hundreds of people took to the streets in Taipei on Saturday to protest the government's move to require Chinese spouses to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration, a rule that Taiwanese authorities have begun enforcing more strictly since April.

The march, organized by the Rebirth Party and the China-friendly New Party, began at 3 p.m. at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and ended outside the Legislative Yuan at 4:30 p.m., drawing around 1,000 participants, according to the organizers.

Among those chanting slogans such as "Support Chinese Spouses, Oppose Persecution" was 55-year-old Wei Tsai-yun (魏彩雲), who said she came to Taiwan from Jiangsu Province in 1995 and was not required to provide proof of having renounced her household registration in China at that time.

Being asked to submit that proof 30 years later is really difficult, Wei said, noting that some Chinese spouses she knows have no family members left in China.

In other cases, the relevant local government agencies in China have been reorganized, making it impossible to complete the process, she said.

The frustration expressed by Wei and other Chinese spouses stemmed from notices sent by the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to some Chinese spouses in early April, requiring them to submit proof of having renounced their household registration in China within three months of receiving the notice.

The requirement is stipulated in Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (Cross-Strait Act), which specifies that "the people of the Taiwan Area may not have household registrations in the Mainland Area," and those who violate this provision "shall be deprived of" their legal status as "people of the Taiwan Area," and lose any rights tied to household registration in Taiwan.

For the 12,000 Chinese spouses who had not previously submitted the proof and therefore received the notices, failing to provide it within the specified period may result in the revocation of their "settlement residency" and, for those who already hold it, the loss of their Taiwanese citizenship and ID card, according to the NIA.

Another Chinese spouse, Chu Fang-yi (朱芳誼), told CNA that Taiwanese society has become increasingly unfriendly toward Chinese spouses, leading to many of them now being "afraid of being stigmatized."

Although Chu is not required to submit the proof, she said her participation in the march was to support those affected and too afraid to speak out.

Wu Shih-tzu (吳軾子), the convener of the Rebirth Party, said the march put forward two main demands to authorities, the first being to expand the conditions under which an affidavit can replace the required proof.

He said that individuals over 65 or those with low to middle incomes should be included, as current exemptions apply only to those aged 70 or above and low-income households -- two of the six conditions under which exemptions may be granted.

The other demand, Wu said, is to amend the Cross-Strait Act to allow Chinese spouses who have already obtained a Taiwanese ID card to use an affidavit in place of the deregistration proof.

In a written response to CNA, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said that the current measures can address a "vast majority of conditions," and those with more complex situations can seek assistance from the NIA, MAC, or the Straits Exchange Foundation, where their issues "can be resolved."