Recently, Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, opened up to look at the rules that make the Danish authorities register Taiwanese who come to the country as Chinese citizens.
This is reported by the Danish Berlingske, who adds that the practice was tightened at the turn of the year.
In Norway, however, Taiwanese have been more or less consistently registered as Chinese citizens since 2011 or 2012, without the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wanting to look into the practice.
– Norway’s One China policy is fixed. Norway does not recognize Taiwan as an independent state. No changes are being considered in the current practice for registering residence in Norway, says communications adviser Ragnhild H. Simenstad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Alting.
Team leader Per-Jan Brekke at the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) states to the Alting that they should initially only register citizenships that are officially recognized by Norway.
– Since Norway does not recognize Taiwan as an independent state, we also cannot register this as citizenship when they apply for residence in Norway. However, the UDI registers the place of birth, and the person’s connection to the non-recognised area will appear there, says Brekke.
Didn’t want to congratulate Taiwan
Norway’s One China policy also meant that Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) chose not to congratulate Taiwan’s incoming president, Lai Ching-te, on his victory in the presidential election. This despite the fact that Norway, through King Harald, congratulated Chinese President Xi Jinping on his election victory last year.
Liberal leader Guri Melby, who visited Taiwan last autumn, believes, on the other hand, that Norway should strengthen its ties to Taiwan.
– Taiwan is a very important different country in a region that is increasingly characterized by more authoritarian governance. I believe we have an obligation – both politically and morally – to stand up for Taiwan’s democracy. That the Støre government chooses not to do so is unfortunately no surprise, she has told the Alting.
The intelligence service believes that China wants to have the capacity to carry out a possible invasion of Taiwan by 2027, while the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) believes that China will pose a significant intelligence threat to Norway.
In addition, researchers at the Norwegian Defense Research Institute (FFI) have recently prepared a report in which it is concluded that Norway should plan for a superpower war between China and the United States over Taiwan.
