Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
語言:
English
Photo Credit: 台灣伴侶權益推動聯盟/Facebook
TAIWAN HAS CONTINUED to see obstacles to cross-strait gay marriages, in spite of that barriers to transnational gay marriages were lifted in January 2023. Nevertheless, a partial victory was won earlier this month, with recognition of the marriage of a Taiwanese and Chinese couple as the third case of recognition of a cross-strait marriage. The first two cases were from Hong Kong and Macau.
Barriers to transnational gay marriages were one of the aspects of the legalization of gay marriage that were previously lacking in Taiwan. Namely, when gay marriage was originally legalized in 2019, for Taiwanese individuals to marry individuals of other nationalities, that person would also have to be from a country that had legalized gay marriage. Other shortcomings of the legalization included that for gay couples to jointly adopt a child, that child needed to be the biological child of one of the members of that couple.
There were several years of legal back-and-forth before the barriers to transnational gay marriage were lifted, even though there were individual cases in which a couple was able to get married but this did not change overall laws.
Photo credit:台灣伴侶權益推動聯盟/Facebook
As early as 2020, one year after gay marriage was legalized, the Judicial Yuan completed a draft bill that would lift some of the currently existing limits on transnational same-sex marriages in Taiwan. Likewise, groups that had played an instrumental role in the legalizing of gay marriage, such as the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights began campaigning for the lifting of barriers on transnational same-sex marriages.
Yet it would be several years before barriers were finally lifted, which took the form of an announcement by the Ministry of the Interior as one of the outgoing acts of Premier Su Tseng-chang’s cabinet.
This has proved similar with regards to cross-strait marriages. As early as January 2021, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced that it was exploring options for marriage between mainland couples. In December 2021, the MAC stated that it intended to amend current laws regulating transnational gay marriages in such a manner that international marriages are recognized, including for Chinese spouses. Yet as seen at present in 2024, several years have passed since that promise
The cross-strait marriage that was recognized, between a couple referred to as “Ryan” and “Righ” in the media, occurred because Ryan and Righ had married in the US in November 2019. Righ’s application was initially rejected by the National Immigration Agency (NIA) because Righ could not provide marriage documents from China, which has not legalized gay marriage. Although a partial legal victory in 2022 through the Taipei High Court allowed for a marriage interview, this was still rejected by the National Immigration Agency four months later, without any interview taking place and apparently defying the orders of the Taipei High Court.
Although the Executive Yuan ordered the Ministry of the Interior, which is the overseeing body of the NIA, to take appropriate legal action in May 2023, this was then complicated in efforts by the NIA and MAC to force responsibility onto the other. It is relatively common for legal cases involving immigrants in Taiwan to involve bureaucratic turf wars between the NIA, as a subordinate body of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Mainland Affairs Council if it involves cross-strait issues pertaining to individuals from China, Hong Kong, or Macau.
Likewise, the status of individuals from such places in Taiwan is often complicated by the fact that China is not technically a separate country from China, according to the laws of the ROC, and so Chinese nationals are not technically foreigners. For example, this impacted the ability of Chinese students to enter Taiwan after borders were shut because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this is why the lifting of limits on transnational gay marriages did not allow for cross-strait marriages. In line with how the government has proved hesitant in past years to make it easier for Hongkongers to secure permanent residency in Taiwan, citing the potential risks to national security if Chinese nationals mix in as potential infiltrators, the issue of Chinese migration to Taiwan has sometimes been politically sensitive, with the DPP criticizing proposals by the KMT to lower the residency period required for Chinese spouses of Taiwanese to secure permanent residency. Yet when there are not barriers to cross-strait marriages for heterosexual couples, Taiwan still sees barriers to cross-strait same-sex marriages.