By Michael Danielsen, Chairman of Taiwan Corner
Taiwanese in Denmark may be classified as Chinese, Taiwanese, or perhaps something else in the future. This is the current Danish policy. Nationality depends on which authority or which department of an authority you are fortunate or unfortunate enough to deal with. It has now been decided that this inconsistent practice will not be changed unless an authority itself decides to standardize the practice.
Introduction to inconsistent Practice from 2024
The strange thing is that this inconsistency began in 2024, despite a uniform practice having apparently worked well for over 40 years. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aligning the practice would involve significant costs, particularly for IT. Since it does not cause administrative or legal issues, no further actions will be taken. It is unclear what the costs were to transition to the current inconsistent practice.
We still lack clear answers on what motivated this change in Danish policy as of 2024. However, it has been suggested that there may be a discrepancy between legislation and practice.
Currently, many Taiwanese have “China” listed as their nationality on their residence cards, even though there is absolutely no basis for this decision. Worse still, some are registered with both their nationality and place of birth as “China.” This decision conflicts with Denmark’s One-China policy, which does not state that Taiwan belongs to China. A Taiwanese person is clearly not born in China and does not hold Chinese nationality.
Possible Standardization by the Ministry of Immigration and Integration
The Ministry of Immigration and Integration is now considering standardizing this practice, as mentioned during a consultation in the Danish Parliament (samråd) with the Foreign Minister on Friday January 31 2025. It will be interesting to see the outcome.
Our Recommendations
Standardization of practice
- At Taiwan Corner, we believe the Ministry of Immigration and Integration should return to the previous uniform practice, where nationality is listed as Taiwan and the place of birth is Taiwan. This would align with all EU countries except Denmark and Luxembourg, according to our information. Alternatives such as “Asia” seem strange; in that case, statelessness would make more sense. The use of Taiwan is logical, as Denmark and the EU recognize Taiwan’s passport, which lists Taiwan. Referring to Taiwan does not equate to recognizing Taiwan as a country since Taiwan’s official name is the Republic of China.
Taiwan can be used without problems
- Our analysis shows that Taiwanese can be registered as Taiwanese without compromising the One-China policy. It is simply a matter of using the correct wording in the appropriate contexts with the proper legislation.
Our Initiatives and Position
We at Taiwan Corner continue to push for change and organized a demonstration in front of the Danish Parliament in collaboration with Taiwanese in Denmark on Friday, January 31 for the first time in our associations lifetime. The demonstration coincided with the consultation in the Danish Parliament (samråd) with the Foreign Minister, initiated by the Danish People’s Party and Liberal Alliance. Taiwanese in Denmark are, of course, extremely upset about having “China” listed as their country on residence cards and other documents.
If the Ministry of Immigration and Integration’s standardization does not remove “China” from the nationality field for Taiwanese, Denmark will increasingly align with China’s One-China principle, which claims that Taiwan is part of China. This is not the democratic values that Denmark otherwise stands for.
By listing Taiwanese as Chinese, Denmark contributes to reducing the chances for the Taiwanese people to determine their own future. The Taiwanese have the right to determine their own future.
