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Taiwan will now recognize same-sex marriages between Taiwanese and Chinese couples

Heory
Taiwan will now recognize same-sex marriages between Taiwanese and Chinese couples

Activists hold rainbow flags and signs at an LGBT rally in Taipei, Taiwan, October 31, 2020.
Photo: Shutterstock

Taiwanese authorities announced that same-sex marriages between Taiwanese and Chinese citizens will now be recognized in the breakaway republic.

Taiwan was the first Asian country to recognise same-sex marriage in 2019.

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The move means same-sex couples across the Taiwan Strait can marry and have their unions recognized in Taiwan. But like most things in the tense relations between the two countries, it’s complicated.

Like their heterosexual peers across the Taiwan Strait, same-sex couples will have to get married in a third country that recognizes both China and Taiwan and also has marriage equality. Once they return to the island nation, they will be able to legally register their marriage.

In addition to the necessary documents, such as a marriage certificate, the couple will have to undergo a detailed interview procedure upon entering the country.

Liang Wen-chieh, deputy head of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, said the strict standards for couples on both sides of the strait were introduced to “prevent cross-border sham marriages and avoid problems with national security and social order.”

“Only after passing the border interview (at the airport and ports) can they enter the country to register their marriages. This is our current rule regarding cross-Strait marriages,” he said, according to AFP.

After the conversation, “the couple can proceed to register their marriage at the registry office,” he added.

Despite the expansion of equal marriage laws, Chinese people living in same-sex relationships will have difficulty obtaining official Taiwanese identity documents.

Chinese citizens have long had to give up their “household registration” in China to obtain permanent residency in Taiwan. However, China does not recognize same-sex marriage, so it is unlikely to approve the deregistration of a partner.

Without it, the Chinese partner cannot obtain a Taiwanese ID card, let alone one that proves they are married — at least for now.

The Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, along with other equality groups, said in a group statement that the changes for couples on both sides of the strait were a “long-awaited, difficult but achievable path home.”

They also noted that the requirement to marry abroad means same-sex couples “continue to face higher economic and class barriers to marriage.”

Taiwan recognized same-sex marriage in 2019 after the country’s highest court ruled that the definition of marriage between a man and a woman was unconstitutional.

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