According to statistics from the Mainland Affairs Council, nearly 50,000 mainland spouses are expected to benefit from the new initiative.
At present a special set of rules—as contained in the Statute Governing the Relations between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area—applies to spouses from mainland China. They are in effect subject to a more onerous set of restrictions than those imposed on other foreign spouses.
Current regulations stipulate that mainland Chinese spouses are not permitted to work on the island until both of the following conditions are satisfied. First, they must have resided legally in Taiwan for six years. Second, they must meet one of the following prerequisites: be living in a low-income household, be suffering from domestic abuse, having to look after a minor, having a spouse aged 65 or above, or having a spouse who is disabled or afflicted with a serious illness.
Spouses from other nations, by contrast, can begin working in Taiwan almost immediately upon marriage to an ROC national, after obtaining what is known as dependent residency status. Under the proposed amendments to the statute, in the future mainland spouses will be treated exactly like all other foreign spouses.
“Mainland spouses are the sons- and daughters-in-law of our nation. Helping them gain full employment rights is part of the government’s mainland policy,” said MAC Minister Lai Shin-yuan April 23. “The new measure can be seen as a big step in the government’s efforts to carry out human rights reforms.”
“Mainland spouses have significant influence on Taiwan society. They have contributed to the local economy,” Lai pointed out. “The already bleak unemployment situation in Taiwan will not be exacerbated by this amendment, as mainland spouses often tend to be involved in less desirable jobs such as those in the nursing and food service sectors.”
The amendment also addresses the question of inheritance rights. Under current regulations, upon the death of a husband or a wife, a mainland spouse can inherit at most NT$2 million (US$59,000). Scrapping this limit, as the amendment proposes, would bestow equal property rights on mainland spouses, said the MAC minister.
Equally important, the proposal stipulates that mainland spouses should be able to enjoy the full range of privileges that others enjoy under the labor insurance program. At present if a mainland spouse sustains injury, falls ill, or dies while travelling abroad, he or she is not permitted to enjoy any benefits or compensations deriving from the labor insurance program.
One proposal was not passed. Current laws require that a mainland spouse must be married to a Taiwan citizen for eight years before becoming eligible for ROC citizenship. Some suggested during the session that the waiting time be shortened to six years. Not enough votes could be mustered for this proposal to pass the legislative committee, however.
In response to the IAC’s proposals, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party sounded a note of caution. It warned that relaxing the immigration rules for mainland Chinese spouses might jeopardize Taiwan’s national security and cause the unemployment rate to increase further.
The intended changes, to a large extent, can be attributed to the repeated protests of mainland spouses, who have long claimed it was unfair to make them wait many more years than other immigrant spouses to obtain work permits and national identity cards.
Write to Chiayi Ho at chiayi@mail.gio.gov.tw