Australian woman 'sold as infant' says Taiwan rejected nationality

Taipei, March 20 (CNA) An Australian woman claiming to hold a Republic of China (ROC) passport and birth certificate who says she was sold as an infant has had her nationality application rejected by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI), according to a Taiwanese lawmaker.

At a news conference in Taipei Friday, Kuomintang Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) said that the woman, 46-year-old Vanessa Miles, had been told by Taiwanese officials in Australia that she could obtain nationality even if her parents were biological unknown.

However, the MOI rejected her application, citing a lack of evidence that she was born in Taiwan, Wang said, despite Miles submitting a Taiwanese birth certificate and an ROC passport bearing an exit stamp issued when she was taken to Australia at 3 months old.

According to Miles, her household registration was canceled in 1983 -- three years after her adoption -- after her biological grandfather told authorities that her registered birth had not taken place.

Miles said her biological grandfather also canceled her adoption by her Australian family, which the MOI accepted without thorough verification.

"I am a victim, sold to another country as a small baby without any say in the matter. Now the government has effectively erased my existence," Miles said.

Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) promised Friday to assist Miles "with empathy," but that the government was still verifying Miles' birth certificate and nationality documents to rule out the possibility they were fabricated.

If the documents cannot be verified, Liu said it would "not be difficult" for Miles to restore her nationality if she takes a DNA test confirming her relationship to her unknown biological parents.