Work rules for Chinese spouses nixed

Another existing restriction that limits the amount of money the mainland spouses can inherit from their Taiwanese spouse to NT$2 million will also be scrapped, according to the draft amendment to the Statute Governing the Relations between the People of Taiwan Area and the People of Mainland Area.

Premier Liu Chao-shiuan said the dramatic changes are meant to "protect the legal Chinese spouses and crack down on the illegal ones in a bid to provide better protection to the working, ID card and property rights of legal Chinese spouses."

Liu noted that the Chinese spouses are a part of Taiwan's society, and that the government has to address their rights so that they feel accepted here.

Liu said the government will not allow Chinese people who come to Taiwan in convenience marriages to work here at the expense of the job opportunities of local people.

He demanded the Ministry of the Interior and other related agencies strengthen the interview process that assesses whether the marriages are genuine upon the Chinese spouses' arrival as well as more thorough visits to their homes after they begin living in Taiwan.

Lai Shin-yuan, chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), said the amendment signifies a major reform regarding the rights of Chinese spouses in Taiwan and a realization of the protection of human rights.

Commenting on the amended law that shortens the years required for Chinese spouses to get IDs to six years, Lai said around 31,000 Chinese spouses who have already stayed in Taiwan for over six years will get IDs immediately.

The government also plans to scrap a regulation that has made it impossible for the spouses to sponsor their children from a previous marriage to join them in Taiwan.

Under a current rule, Chinese spouses have to stay in Taiwan for at least eight years before they can register their household here and another five years after that before they can apply to have their biological children under 12 years of age to come to Taiwan.

But Lai noted that after waiting eight years and then another five years, the children would be at least 13 and would no longer qualify to come here under the rule.

She criticized the regulation as being "unreasonable and not in line with human rights," adding that the Ministry of the Interior will scrap that as well.

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