{"id":2478,"date":"2026-08-12T05:37:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=2478"},"modified":"2026-08-12T05:37:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:37:45","slug":"in-taiwan-chinese-born-spouses-face-questions-of-loyalty-and-some-say-discrimination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=2478","title":{"rendered":"In Taiwan, Chinese-born spouses face questions of loyalty and, some say, discrimination"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) \u2014 The day after Li Chen-hsiu was sworn in as a member of Taiwan\u2019s Legislature, she was questioned about whether she belonged \u2014 about her nationality, about her identity and ultimately about her loyalty to Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Read more Kosovo begins excavations at newly found mass graves tied to 1998-99 war missing<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s because Li is a \u201cmainland spouse\u201d \u2014 born in China and a citizen of Taiwan through marriage. She\u2019s part of a community of some 369,000 people in the island nation who are subject to rapidly changing policies \u2014 and some say discrimination \u2014 as tensions rise with China and Taiwan\u2019s government questions the spouses\u2019 allegiances. For the two months she served before being forced out of the legislature, Li was the country\u2019s only China-born lawmaker who had immigrated to Taiwan by marriage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s only because of Taiwan which has this free and democratic system, and the Taiwan People\u2019s Party which was willing to give a political newcomer a chance, that I could have this opportunity,\u201d she told The Associated Press in July. <\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

But now, fears of a military invasion by China have complicated Taiwan\u2019s policy toward spouses like Li. She is part of a diverse group that includes multiple generations, from those who married retired Chinese soldiers and came to Taiwan in search of better economic opportunity to a younger, more educated and wealthier group that met after both sides relaxed their borders.<\/p>\n

70 years of silence and tension drive the issue<\/h2>\n

China and Taiwan split during a civil war in 1949, with the Nationalist Party fleeing to the island. For decades, the two sides banned all contact, until 1987 when Taiwan\u2019s residents were allowed to visit their family members in China for the first time. Tensions have fluctuated, but have been high since independence-leaning Tsai Ing-wen was elected Taiwan\u2019s president in 2016, and China cut off official contact.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Today, China sends military planes and navy ships toward Taiwan daily as part of military exercises. It has also stepped up its diplomatic campaign to isolate the island on the international stage, poaching allies,<\/span> keeping Taiwan out of international organizations and targeting the island with misinformation.<\/span><\/p>\n

That threat is raising fears on the island about who\u2019s loyal to Taiwan. A New Taipei court sentenced Hsu Chun-ying<\/span>, head of an organization dedicated to helping spouses, to seven years in prison Tuesday for acting on Beijing\u2019s behalf to spy on Taiwan and interfere with its politics.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Historically, \u2018mainland spouses\u2019 were brides of soldiers<\/h2>\n

Mi Zhengrong, 72, met her husband through relatives in China\u2019s Hubei province. <\/p>\n

Her husband was one of the veterans of the civil war who had fled to Taiwan and later were allowed back into China to visit their hometowns for the first time. Many of them had been unable to marry in Taiwan and brought back women from China. Mi and her husband got married and lived in China, but her husband missed Taiwan \u2014 so they moved to the island in 2002. Her husband passed away after 12 years together. <\/p>\n

She then married a neighbor in Taiwan, and they were together for nearly a decade. For the last two years, she said, he was paralyzed, and she had to take care of him round-the-clock. <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n
\nSign up for Morning Wire:<\/strong>
\n Our flagship newsletter breaks down the biggest headlines of the day.\n <\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n