Acquiring Taiwan citizenship as a way to eventually get PRC (mainland) citizenship?

I’ve spent a few years in mainland China and was always asking about the possibility of getting citizenship there. As an Australian citizen I was told that although there is official allowance for foreigners to eventually become citizens, in effect this can never happen - because politics, whatever.

An interesting discussion about this here:

Now bear with me here…I’ve also read that because of the historical nonsense between the two Chinas, there is something along the lines of a ‘right of return’ for Taiwanese to go to the mainland and become a PRC citizen without too much hassle. So, theoretically could I get Taiwan citizenship after renouncing my Australian citizenship and then, as a Taiwanese citizen, go to PRC and claim citizenship there?

Without going in to the details of why one would want to become a citizen of mainland China, does anyone here know of someone who has gotten a PRC passport by first becoming a citizen of Taiwan?

You are talking about two different things aren’t you? One is PRC citizenship, the other is PRC passport, which doesn’t necessarily mean PRC citizenship.

I’m sure this is not what you’re looking for, but Taiwanese can get PRC passports. I only toss this out because it was in the news recently and not really applicable to your interests.

Doesn’t Malaysia have something very similar? You can be Malaysian, but not Malay?

Geert Wilders I believe touched on the becoming Dutch bit, complaining that foreigners (you know which foreigners) are able to call themselves “Dutchmen” when they should not be. If he said that, this would be ironic since he himself is half of one of those foreigners.

@tango42 Thanks for the link - i notice that most of the punitive actions in this area are taken usually by ROC, rather than PRC. Quite contrary to the mainstream bias of China being the intransigent party :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

To my understanding, if you can get a PRC passport then you get ‘nationality’ also. From wikipedia:

“Acquisition of PRC nationality by ROC nationals
In accordance with the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area of the ROC, any ROC national with Household Registration (ROC nationals with full citizenship rights in Taiwan) who obtains a passport issued to Mainland residents of the PRC or hukou of Mainland China, automatically loses his Household Registration in Taiwan, which in turn causes the loss of the person’s citizenship rights in the ROC (since he or she has already obtained the de facto citizenship of Mainland China).[39] However, the person does not cease to be a ROC national and instead becomes a “person of the Mainland area” with ROC nationality, in addition to PRC nationality he acquires.[36]”

Maybe i’m missing something, am I confusing Nationality with Citizenship? Are they the same thing?

In some jurisdictions there’s a formal distinction between citizenship and nationality, but both words have been used to translate 國籍.

What the PRC and ROC have that some countries don’t is household registration, which (when combined with nationality) you could view as a kind of “citizenship”.

I’m sure this has come up before, but if you don’t find the old thread(s) about this topic, @hsinhai78 can probably explain it.

oh, you mean the thread where @hsinhai78 is schooling that Polishman about his Taiwanese wife’s legal status in PRC?

@yyy Thanks btw - it makes a bit more sense to me now about the difference between the two. I suppose the idea of citizenship isn’t actually a universal idea, seeing as republics have only been in existence for a few hundred years now. As an aussie i’m pretty sure being a citizen there really only entitles me to some token freedoms whilst ultimately: Elizabeth 2 still owns my head and corpus :yum:

That sounds like fake and/or badly translated news.

PRC passports are only issued to Chinese nationals that have household registration in the PRC.

Nationals without household registration in the PRC (This includes ROC citizens) can get various kinds of papers from PRC authorities and embassies to travel to and from China, like Taibaozheng, entry permits, exit permits and ‘travel documents’. However none of these are considered ‘passports’ 护照. Those are only issued to PRC citizens.

I think I’m thinking of a different thread, from about two years ago.

Btw if that’s the article about a Taiwanese getting in trouble for obtaining a mainland passport to go to Russia, there’s a thread about it too.

The only Taiwanese who have gotten a passport are those with talent, ie if you are a very good ping pong player and can represent the national team… I’ve also heard of military defectors getting the passport. Those who get the mainland passport will forfeit their Taiwan passport, and require a visa when returning to Taiwan. If you are just an ordinary person, then you will probably not qualify. Think about it, Hongers cant even get a mainland hukou, therefore they’re unlikely to give them to Taiwanese. Even old Taiwanese, Hongers born on the mainland can’t get a mainland passport.

not only passport, but citizenship.

Edit.
Oops, this news is already mentioned.

Passport and citizenship are related but not congruent terms.

Taiwanese, i.e. ROC citizens with household registration in the Taiwan Area, are already considered citizens by the government in Beijing under the Nationality Act of the People’s Republic of China.

For identification and travel purposes Taiwanese use the “Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents” (臺灣居民來往大陸通行證) commonly referred to as Taibaozheng (台胞证).

Taiwanese can surely apply for household registration in the Mainland Area, with the consequence that they will cease to be Taiwanese in the eyes of both Taipei and Beijing governments, but will instead be ordinary Mainland Residents. This is entirely unrelated to the question of citizenship, as under the laws pertaining nationality of both the PRC and ROC neither Mainland Chinese nor Taiwanese are foreigners but citizens. The question of rights associated with citizenship, such as the right of abode and working rights is more complicated of course and connected to the place of household registration.

To make it short, no Taiwanese would under most circumstances apply for household registration in Mainland China, as that would from the standpoint of the Taipei government invalidate household registration in the Taiwan Area. Equally, holding a passport issued by Mainland China would from the standpoint of the Taipei government invalidate household registration in the Taiwan Area. Even without household registration, Taiwanese can benefit from working rights and de-facto unrestricted residence periods in Mainland China, hence there is no motivation for Taiwanese to gain household registration in Mainland China at the expense of their citizenship rights in Taiwan.

Given the way Beijing abducts and detains their citizens, whether at home or abroad, makes me wonder why on earth anyone with Australian citizenship would actually set out to try to become a PRC citizen (and also obtain a PRC passport).

I guess it takes all types to make this world go round. :stuck_out_tongue:

Guy

A post was merged into an existing topic: American with Taiwan born Parent: TARC, NWOHR, NHI, Dual Citizenship, Double Taxation,