Taipei, Oct. 31 (CNA) The Taipei High Administrative Court has ordered the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) to rescind its decision to deny a Chinese spouse’s application for permanent residency in Taiwan, calling it an unlawful arbitration that lacked evidence against the woman for claiming she worked long term at a Chinese bank linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The court overturned the MOI decision based on the findings in a recent ruling, which can still can be appealed.
According to the ruling, the woman surnamed Liu (劉) filed a lawsuit with the court against the MOI when the ministry declined to approve her application for permanent residency, citing her work at state-run Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) from 1983-2021.
Liu married her Taiwanese husband in 2013 and was issued a residence permit by the MOI in 2017 that allowed her to remain in Taiwan through November 2022, the ruling said.
However, Liu complained that her permanent residence application filed in April 2021 was turned down by the ministry following a meeting in June 2022.
The ministry claimed her 37 years working at ICBC constituted a violation of national security in line with Taiwan’s law because the bank is affiliated to China’s State Council and the bank’s chairman heads the bank’s CCP committee.
Liu argued that she did not serve in any post linked to the CCP or politics and asked the MOI to rescind its rejection of her permanent residence application as it jeopardizes her family life in Taiwan, the ruling said.
After delving into Liu’s complaint and the case as a whole, the court concluded the MOI came to its conclusion without conducting an investigation into the case.
The court cited minutes from the MOI meeting stating: “Taking Liu’s family union needs into consideration, her residence permit will not be invalidated, but her permanent residence application will be denied” and noting it “should ask the immigration and national security authorities to help probe Liu’s case the next time she applies for permanent residence status.”
The court found that these provided zero indication as to what evidence formed the basis of the MOI decision to reject Liu’s application or consider China’s ICBC a political institution.
Due to the lack of a detailed investigation into the nature of Liu’s job and work environment at ICBC, the court said it has ordered the MOI to rescind its previous decision in her case.
