Do you think foreign reforms and judgements on gay marriage didn’t influence the Taiwanese court to rule in favour of gay marriage? For years most countries ran the argument right to marriage didn’t extend to gay marriage. Similarly, people argue that the right to citizenship under the icppr only extends to loss of citizenship and/or statelessness. Human Rights progress and the definitions of existing rights evolve. I would think Taiwan, given its position and the manner in which it wishes to viewed internationally, would want to be at the forefront of human rights.
You may think that but the reality is different. Same sex marriage was done because the elected leader had new justices installed who would be supportive of her cause for that issue. It was also an issue the public supported by having a vote on the matter.
So how has Taiwan allowing same sex marriage influenced other Asian countries? Not at all.
The same-sex marriage issue was a matter of doing the right thing (fairness, equality, etc) BUT it was famously thrashed in that ridiculous referendum before the change took place. The DPP went ahead with this move despite and not because of public support.
Guy
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Those other asian countries aren’t in the same precarious position as Taiwan. Needing to keep the West happy but also win over international media and the public in the West too. There has to be undeniable ethical and moral justification to defend Taiwan.
One more response. While political “leadership” (such as it is) in places like Japan have remained stubbornly conservative, the changes in Taiwan have helped to energize exchanges across the nations and have helped give activists in Japan, among other places, some leverage for potential future change.
Guy
Yeah OK That gave me a chuckle. Maybe they don’t want a democratic country that produces 50% of the worlds chipsets to fall into the hands of a rogue nation across the Taiwan Strait?
That might be enough for some governments… but if the people of those countries don’t recognise more than that, it will be a tough sell.
Not often someone with Hsiao’s background comes along if looking for someone sympathetic. Most lawmakers no matter the country probably never been on the receiving end of an immigration system they oversee.
If the Hsiao saga is anything to go by, the average forumosan has loads more understanding of 國籍 and 戶籍 than most Taiwanese.
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What Hsiao saga? Her father was Taiwanese, and under the sexist provisions in place at the time of her birth, there was no ambiguity at all that she was a citizen.
Now if the situation were reversed—if her father were American, and if her mother were Taiwanese—she’d be in @tommy525 territory and would have been booted out of Taiwan as an adult. She would not be on the ticket or able to run for office.
All these fine details are not stopping the KMT however from referring to Hsiao as an “American” while grandstanding on stage (this move, I read, was recently made by Hung Hsiu-chu at a rally).
Guy
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Saga as in getting a whole bunch of people to talk about it for a while. Yea, I would have been that territory myself if I had been born a few years earlier.
I’m just suspecting the KMT knows as well and is just drumming this non-issue for political points.
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You, perhaps more than most, can figure out what the KMT is trying to do by calling Hsiao an “American.”
It’s challenging to think of ways I could like the KMT less, but these people continue to push the envelope, especially when you compare Hsiao with the guy they think is the best choice for VP.
Guy
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I just guess but Australia has ID numbers to identify people. Must be a pain if they didn’t. No way to build a database with random ID’s
My passport, not Australian, has no ID number visibly printed, just a passport number. But in the barcode hidden is my national register number.
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Medicare number, plus most government services are accessed via a single “my gov” account.
That’s an ID system/register
They even issue you with a mygov login that suspiciously looks like an ID number (letter number format)…national id card was politically rejected in 80’s decades later they introduced mygov to help you efficiently access services, and now most critical services make it compulsory.
You guess wrong.
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No it is not It can be used for drivers license or post office but cannot be used as a form of ID. I am Australian and do not have a Medicare number. I also do not have a tax identification number. I do not have a my gov account also. Australia also does not have a national register number.
Medicare card (Australia) - Wikipedia. Anyway nothing in this has anything to do with citizenship rules for Taiwan.
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Many countries like UK Italy etc had the same rules until recently. Dont get too hyped up that Taiwan did the same.
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Mygov cant be used for driver’s licences as they are state based… it is used to access ato, medicare and centrelink and most of federal services for individuals.
That is true, old Italian nationality law was conferring citizenship only via father, and women marrying foreigners in some instances would lose Italian citizenship automatically
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