Taiwan to give asylum to Chinese dissidents under amended law

Taipei - Taiwan on Thursday amended a law governing relations with China so that Taipei can grant political asylum to Chinese dissidents. Under the revision, approved by the cabinet, Taiwan can grant political asylum to Chinese citizens, even if they have entered Taiwan illegally.

Additionally, Chinese dissidents waiting in Taiwan for asylum will be eligible for legal assistance and medical assistance, and be allowed to find work to support themselves.

Under current law, Chinese dissidents must have entered Taiwan legally in order to seek political asylum. While waiting for asylum, they are treated as illegal immigrants and not allowed to work or receive medical assistance.

Liu Teh-shun, vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, said at a news conference that the amended law is more humane because, if pro-democracy activists seek asylum in Taiwan, "their life must be in danger, so how can they enter Taiwan legally?"

"Now that we have this law, we can determine if they qualify for political asylum according to facts, and not mind if they entered Taiwan legally," he said.

Taiwan, split from China since 1949, used to welcome Chinese defectors during the Cold War, but stopped doing so as cross-strait tension began to thaw in the late 1980s.

In the last 10 years, Taiwan has sheltered very few Chinese defectors, and only on a case-by-case basis.

But Taiwan's existing asylum law and the fact that most Chinese dissidents arrived illegally meant that Taipei could only give temporary shelter to most of them before sending them on to a third country.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301639,taiwan-to-give-asylum-to-chinese-dissidents-under-amended-law.html.