Japan to acknowledge Taiwan as place of origin for naturalized citizens

Tokyo: In a clear indication of policy shift and snub to China, Taiwan-origin naturalized citizens of Japan will now be able to list their country of origin as Taiwan in their family register from May 26, the Japanese government announced on Tuesday. Japan’s Minister of Justice revised an ordinance allowing people to list regions, not just countries, a move that has been welcomed by Taiwan but triggered a sharp reaction from China.

The Japanese government will allow the names of both countries and regions to be listed in the nationality column of family registries. This would also allow people from Taiwan married to Japanese nationals to list Taiwan in the registry in place of China. The Japanese ministry decided to change an ordinance to add ‘region’ to the current ‘nationality’ entry of the family registry, in a sign of greater consideration for identity, the country’s media reported.

Earlier, the only option in the family registry for Chinese and Taiwanese individuals was China. When a person from Taiwan registered for naturalized Japanese citizenship, his or her country of origin was registered as China. Following the revised system that will be introduced in May, this provision will also be changed, and Taiwanese people’s country of origin will be registered as Taiwan. This will also apply to cases before the implementation of the ordinance revision if requests are submitted, it was reported. (IANS)

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