ROC nationality laws

Membership in an increasingly stateless nation

By William Wetherall

First posted 15 February 2007
Last updated 20 June 2023


1909 Ching Nationality Regulations 1929 ROC Nationality Law 1947 ROC Constitution 2000 ROC Nationality Law (revised through 2006)


A century of Chinese nationality law

Here I will present the general features of nationality laws in China from 1909 through 2006. I will begin with overviews of the natural (birth-based) nationality provisions in regulations introduced by the Ching (Qing) government in 1909, and then continued in a nationality all enacted by Republic of China (ROC) in 1929. I will then look at nationality in ROC from after World War II to the present.

Nationality in China under the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) is regarded in a separate article (see links below). I am making this division between the two entities because ROC's laws reflect a continuity of standards that began during the Ching (Qing) era, whereas PRC's laws reflect a significant break from these standards after the founding of PRC in 1949.

Chiu Hungdah puts the reach of ROC's nationality laws over the past eighty years or so most succinctly as follows (Chiu 1990, page 35, see source particulars below).

The 1929 Nationality Act was in force in China between 1929 and late 1949 while the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China was in control of the Chinese State. Upon its removal to Taiwan in late 1949, this Act has applied only to Taiwan, to certain other small islands under the Nationalist Government's control, and to some overseas Chinese who still pay allegiance to the Republic of China.

The Ching government ceded Taiwan and the Penghu islands to Japan in 1895, and hence ROC -- which was not established until 1912, and again more stably in 1928 -- did not have control and jurisdiction of Taiwan and the Penghus until 25 October 1945, when representing the Allied Powers it received Japan's surrender in Taipei.

ROC, though a state in its own eyes, is losing the recognition war with PRC. As more states switch their recognition to PRC, fewer states regard ROC as a state, which means that ROC is increasingly becoming a non-state entity or what I term a "stateless nation".

Changes in political recognition do not limit ROC's regard for the operation of its own Nationality Law on those qualified to possess its passports. Nor do such changes necessarily harm economic and other ties, or travel and migration, between ROC and other countries. It does, however, mean that most countries today no longer recognize ROC's nationality. And this may limit the choices ROC's nationals have with regard to their status in other countries.

Nationality, territory, and aborigine status

While laws governing nationality have their own story, it is a story that unfolds with other stories -- stories about changing territories, changing populations, and changing constitutions. Here are some other articles, featured on this website, with related stories.

Related articles

The Republic of China as a state: The vicissitudes of recognition politics
Race in ROC's constitutions: China's rise and fall as an ethnic nation
ROC's 13 ethnic nations: Taiwanizing Sinified-Japanized aborigines
ROC's 2001 Aborigine Status Act: The legal embrace of indigenous Taiwanese
Race in PRC's constitutions: Principles of ethnic equality and autonomy
PRC's 56 ethnic subnations: The racialist revolution against racism
PRC's 1980 Nationality Law: A single nationality multiethnic state

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1909 Ching Nationality Regulations

Conflicts arise between states over which states has the right to claim a person's allegiance, for purposes of protecting the person from another state, or for purposes of holding the person accountable to its own laws concerning the treatment of is subjects, nationals, or citizens. States have therefore developed domestic rules for attributing (determining and recognizing) their own nationality, as well as rules for determining which state's laws apply in cases involving aliens, including aliens with more than one nationality, and nationals who also have an alien nationality.

China had a number of written and customary status laws and practices during the 19th and early 20th centuries as it became increasing subject to extraterritorial treaties with Euroamerican powers. A number of conflicts concerning the status of Chinese or former Chinese who migrated to or been born in other countries finally forced the Ching (Qing) government of China to adopt what is usually regarded as China's first formal nationality law in 1909.

The reach and effectiveness of the 1909 law is disputed, and its provisions were somewhat modified by the Republic of China (ROC), founded in 1912, and other governments that presumed to rule China until, in 1928, ROC was re-established as the government of China. The Nationality Law enacted by ROC in 1929, considered China's first truly effective nationality law, has been revised a number of times, to reflect ROC's own political vicissitudes, most significantly after World War II.

1909 Chinese Nationality Act
Promulgated by Ching (Qing) government on 28 March 1909 but not long or widely effective.

1912 Chinese Nationality Act
1909 Ching law re-enacted with some modifications on 18 November 1912 by the first Republic of China (ROC) government, established on 1 January 1912.
Amendments promulgated 30 December 1914.

1929 Nationality Law
Heavily revised new law promulgated on 5 February 1929 by the second ROC government.
Broadly revised in 2000 and again in 2006.

Sources

The above actions and dates are based on a number of sources in English and Japanese. They have not been confirmed by an examination of primary sources, which are not available to me, and in any case are subject to numerous interpretations of political and legal conditions at the time.

Chiu 1990

The following report in English by Chiu Hungdah, while probably in need of some modification reflecting more recent research, remains the best example of how nationality issues in China should be approached at the crossroads of historical political and legal conditions. The book also includes strong and interestingly different reports on Japan's and Korea's nationality laws and practices.

Chiu Hungdah
"Nationality and International Law in Chinese Perspective"
(with special reference to the period before 1950 and the practice of the administration at Taipei)
In Ko Swan Sik (editor)
Nationality and International Law in Asian Perspective
Dordrecht: Marinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1990
Pages 27-63, of l, 506 pages, hardcover

Flournoy and Hudson 1929

The following book, published shortly after China enacted and promulgated its 1929 Nationality Law, was the bible of comparative nationality law in its day. Its translations and commentary on both Japan's and China's nationality laws continue to be valuable today.

Flournoy and Hudson, editors
A Collection of Nationality Laws of Various Countries as Contained in Constitutions, Statutes and Treaties
New York: Oxford University Press, 1929
xxiii, 776 pages
China, pages 174-178

Tsai 1910

The following contemporary commentary in English on Chin's 1909 nationality regulations, by Tsai Chutung, is also of considerable interest.

Tsai Chutung
The Chinese Nationality Law, 1909
The American Journal of International Law
Volume 4, Number 2 (April 1910)
Pages 404-411.

"doctrine of perpetual allegiance"

Tsai's summarization of the political and legal conditions that provoked the Ching government to draft a nationality law stands up well today, a century later (page 404, underscoring mine).

Before China came in contact with European countries, Chinese nationality was based upon the principles of indissoluble natural allegiance and of disability of emigration. A Chinese "was not free to go beyond the border of the seas" and when he succeeded in leaving the country he still remained a Chinese in the eyes of the law, though he had been duly naturalized in a foreign land; wherefore, if he returned to China, the authorities might or might not punish him for violating the prohibition, but in neither case was he clothed with the character of an alien so as to entitle him to the protection of his adopted country. This doctrine of perpetual allegiance, tolerable as it might have been at a time when nations were sufficient unto themselves, was incompatible with the adventurous and commercial spirit of the nineteenth century.

The phrasing in Tsai's summary is elegant, dynamic, and lucid compared with phrasing found in some present-day reports.

Echos of Japan's 1899 Nationality Law
in China's 1909 and 1929 nationality laws

Japan's 1899 Nationality Law inspired China's 1909 Nationality Regulations and also the Republic of China's 1929 Nationality Law. China's laws have essentially the same mix of jus sanguinis and jus soli principles as Japan's law.

Chapter 1 of China's 1909 nationality regulations define "inherent" or "natural" national affiliation, i.e., nationality acquired through birth. The chapter includes two articles, the first embracing jus sanguinis (right of blood) rules, the second jus soli (right of soil) rules.

Article 1 ties natural status to paternal lineage (Items 1 and 2) or material lineage (Item 3), whereas Article 2 ties natural status to birth in Chinese territory.

Items 1 and 2 of Article 1 of China's 1909 law reflect the same rules as Article 1 of Japan's 1899 Nationality Law, while Item 3 reflects Article 3 of Japan's law. Article 2 of China's 1909 law reflects Article 4 of Japan's 1899 law.

Note that ROC's 1929 Nationality Law incorporates the four "natural possession" provisions of the 1909 law as four items under a single article (see below).

The 1909 regulation has 24 articles and 10 supplementary provisions. May elements of articles reflect influence from Japan's 1899 Nationality Law. The supplementary provisions cover mainly rules to be followed by Chinese who have acquired another nationality and wish to lose their Chinese status.

Chapter 2 (Articles 3-10) covers naturalization, Chapter 3 (Articles 1-18) loss of Chinese nationality, and Chapter 4 (Articles 19-23) readmission to Chinese nationality. Article 23 forbids those who have been readmitted to Chinese nationality from holding the public offices that Article 8 forbids naturalized subjects from holding, but the conditions that must be met to hold such an office are somewhat different. Article 24 states that the law will enter into force immediately upon being sanctioned by the emperor.

Supplementary provisions for loss of Chinese nationality

The supplementary provisions of the 1909 law consist of rules that govern loss and retention of Chinese nationality related to acts undertaken by Chinese subjects before the law came into effect. Basically, a Chinese subject who, without permission from Chinese authorities, had naturalized in a foreign state, or had naturalized as an alien subject in the settlement of a Chinese treaty port, will retain their Chinese status must unless they make timely notifications of their acquisition of alien status, and substantiate the claims made in the notifications.

A supplementary provision allowed persons born and residing abroad prior to the law to retain their presumed Chinese nationality if they wished. Another provision stipulated that persons who had lost Chinese nationality were not allowed to reside in the interior of China and were required to divest themselves of assets and interests they had had as Chinese.

Yet another provision held that permission to expatriate could be rescinded if later it was found that the expatriated person had violated laws while still Chinese, and the person could subject to penal laws. And another provided punishments for persons who had obtained permission to expatriate on the basis of false claims of possession of a former nationality.

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1909 Great Ching (Qing) Nationality Regulations
Natural (birth-based) provisions with commentary on terminology

Chinese text

The Chinese text was adapted from a ZN Wikisource version in traditional graphs included in JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard). Graphs not in JIS are represented in Unicode. The format has been somewhat modified. The text has not been vetted against versions that may be found in contemporary primary Chinese sources.

English translations

The structural English translation, shown beside the Chinese text, is mine.

A contemporary English version of the 1909 law appeared in a supplementary volume of the same journal that published Tsai Chutung's commentary (see above), as follows.

The American Journal of International Law
Supplement to Volume 4, 1910
Pages 160-166)

While the 1910 AJIL version accurately reflects the general purport of the 1909 law, as a translation it is very free, and there was little attempt to capture the phrasing and metaphors of the Chinese version. For reference, though, I have cited this version as reproduced in Appendix I (pages 185-192) of the following article by Leo Suryadinata.

Leo Suryadinata
China's Citizenship Law and the Chinese in Southeast Asia
Pages 169-202 (Chapter 7) in
M. Barry Hooker, editor
Law and the Chinese in Southeast Asia
Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2002

Commentary

All glosses of highlighted terms are mine.

大清國籍條例

Great Ching Nationality Regulations

The following actions and dates are unconfirmed.

[ Promulgated 28 March 1909 ]
[ Enforced from 28 March 1909 ]

第一章    固有籍

Chapter 1    Inherent registry

"inherent registry"

固有籍 means "inherent registry" in the sense of "registration as a matter of birth" or "status as a natural possession".

固有 is used to qualify something that "firmly" or "undoubtedly" or "originally" exists -- hence inherent, intrinsic, proper, innate, native. The term is also used in the 1929 ROC Nationality Law, and is rendered "natural possession" in the standard contemporary English translation of the 1929 law (see below).

固有 in Japanese laws

固有 is not used in Japan's 1899 and 1950 (current) nationality laws, both of which state "is [shall be] regarded". More generally, all nationality in Japan is considered "acquired" by one or another rule. The term 固有 does, however, appear in Japan's 1947 Constitution, where it describes rights of suffrage, which the original English draft and the standard "official" English version qualify as "inalienable" rights.

籍 refers to a register or registry as an actual record of some form -- which could be a birth register or roll, or registry of affiliated or domiciled tribes, households, families, or individuals.

第一條

凡左列人等不論是否生於中國地方均屬中國國籍

一、生而父為中國人者。
二、生於父死後而父死時為中國人者。
三、母為中國人而父無可考或無國籍者。

Article 1

All persons listed left [below] no matter whether or not born in China's territory shall equally [all] be affiliated with China's nationality:

1. A person born [to any woman] if the father is Chinese;
2. A person born [to any woman] after the father dies if the father was Chinese at the time of [his] death;
3. A person whose mother is Chinese if the father cannot be verified [ascertained] or has no nationality.

第二條

若父母均無可考或均無國籍而生於中國地方者亦屬中國國籍。其生地並無可考而在中國地方發現之棄童同。

Article 2

A person who, if [when] the father and mother equally [both] cannot be verified or have no nationality and [but] was born in China's territory, shall also be affiliated with China's nationality. An abandoned child whose place of birth together [both] cannot be verified and [but] [the child] is found in China's territory shall be the same [be similarly regarded as affiliated with China's nationality].

1910 AJIL version (Suryadinata 2002)

Text of the Law on the Acquisition and Loss of Chinese Nationality (1909)

SECTION I
NATIONALITY BY PARENTAGE

Article I

The following are Chinese, whatever the locality may be in which they are born:

1. A child born of a father who at the time of its birth is Chinese.
2. A child born after the death of the father, if the father at the time of death was Chinese.
3. A child born of a Chinese mother, the father being unknown or without a determinate nationality.

Article II

A child born in China of parents unknown or of parents without a determinate nationality. An abandoned child without ascertainable place of birth takes China nationality, when found on Chinese soil.

"affiliated with China's nationality"

屬 is the conventional term, found in numerous Chinese, Japanese, and Korean treaties before the existence of legally defined nationality in these countries, to mean "affiliation with" or "belonging to" a recognized entity, polity, or jurisdiction. Some early English translations render the term as "nationality" in the sense of "national affiliation".

中國 means literally "middle state" or "middle nation" or "middle country" -- or, more commonly, "middle kingdom" -- i.e., "China".

國籍 is literally "state [national] registry" -- based on some formal recognition of status as an affiliate of a state or nation -- i.e., "nationality".

"Chinese"

中國人 signifies a "person of China" hence "Chinese".

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1929 ROC Nationality Law

ROC's 1929 National Law, while heavily revising China's 1909 regulations and the few revisions that had been made since their promulgation, continued to observe the same mix of jus sanguinis and jus soli rules in the recognition of its nationality through birth to a Chinese father (Items 1 and 2), a Chinese mother (Item 3), and through birth in China (Item 4).

As noted above, these four rules were essentially modeled after Japan's 1899 Nationality Law, which in turn reflected the rules that government nationality in most countries of the world at the time.

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1929 Republic of China Nationality Law
Natural (birth-based) provisions with commentary on terminology

Chinese text

The Chinese text was adapted from a ZN Wikisource version in traditional graphs included in JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard). Graphs not in JIS are represented in Unicode. The format has been somewhat modified. The text has not been vetted against versions that may be found in contemporary primary Chinese sources.

English translations

I have shown, following the Chinese text and my own structural translation, two English translations.

The first and best of the received English translations is found in the following source, the bible of comparative nationality at time it was published shortly after the enactment and promulgation of ROC's 1929 law.

Flournoy and Hudson, editors
A Collection of Nationality Laws of Various Countries as Contained in Constitutions, Statutes and Treaties
New York: Oxford University Press, 1929
xxiii, 776 pages
China, pages 174-178

An adequate but somewhat freer version is reproduced in Appendix II (pages 193-197) of the following article in English.

Leo Suryadinata
China's Citizenship Law and the Chinese in Southeast Asia
Pages 169-202 (Chapter 7) in
M. Barry Hooker, editor
Law and the Chinese in Southeast Asia
Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2002

This version is attributed to Suryadinata himself as follows (page 197).

Source: Zhonghuamingyo fagui huipian 3 (Shanghai: Zhonghua Shuju, 1934): 66-69. This translation was done by Leo Suryadinata after consulting the English version of the 1909 Chinese Nationality law. The official English translation is not available to this author.

Commentary

All glosses of highlighted terms are mine.

國籍法

Nationality Law

中華民國法律

中華民國18年1月29日 制定20條

中華民國18年2月5日 國民政府制定公布全文20條

Statutes of Republic of China

20 articles enacted 29 January 1929 (ROC 18)

All 20 articles enacted and promulgated by the National Government 5 February 1929 (ROC 18)

第一章    固有國籍

Chapter 1    Inherent nationality

"inherent nationality"

固有國籍 means "inherent nationality" in the sense of "nationality as a matter of birth" or "nationality as a natural possession".

See commentary to 1909 nationality regulations for glosses on 固有 and 國籍 (above).

第一條

左列各人屬中華民國國籍:

一、生時父為中國人者。
二、生於父死後,其父死時為中國人者。
三、父無可考或無國籍,其母為中國人者。
四、生於中國地,父母均無可考或均無國籍者。

Article 1

Every person listed left [below] shall be affiliated with China's nationality:

1. A person who at time of birth the father is Chinese.
2. A person who was born after the death of the father, [and] the father was Chinese at the time of death.
3. A person whose father cannot be verified [ascertained] [or] has no nationality, and the mother is Chinese.
4. A person who was born in China territory, [and] the father and mother equally [both] cannot be verified [ascertained] [or] have no nationality.

Flournoy and Hudson 1929

Chapter 1.--Natural Possession of Chinese Nationality

Article 1.  The following persons are of Chinese nationality:

(1) One whose father is at the time of his (or her) birth a Chinese national;
(2) One who is born after the death of his (or her) father and whose father is a Chinese national at the time of his death;
(3) One whose mother is a Chinese national, and whose father is unknown -- or has no nationality;
(4) One who is born in China, and whose parents are unknown or have no nationality.

Suryadinata 2002

Section I   Nationality by Parentage

Article I   The following persons have Chinese nationality:

1. A child born of a father who at the time of its birth is Chinese.
2. A child born after the death of the father, if the father at the time of death was Chinese.
3. A child born of a Chinese mother, the father being unknown or with an indeterminate nationality.
4. A child born in China of parents unknown or with an indeterminate nationality.

"China"

中華民國 graphically reflects "middle-flower-people/nation-country" or "Middle flowering nation".

Note that the name for the People's Republic of China (PRC) is 中华人民共和国 or "Middle flowering people's together-in-harmony state".

中華 (中华) is a beautified name for the country known in English as "China" -- a later Anglicization of words used outside China to refer to the country during and before the time of Marco Polo (1254-1324), who brushed its borders during the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368).

民 means a person in the sense of someone affiliated with a clan or polity. It is used in phrases like 民有民治民享之 -- an essential phrase in ROC's 1947, which reflects Lincoln's "of the people, by the people, and for the people" (see below). Some people have thought that 民 is an abbreviation of 民族 (racioethnic nation), as in "the Chinese race" (中華民族). However, here it means simply the "people" as in Sun Yat-sen's "Three Principles of the People" (三民主義), hence, "the people of China" (中華民) as a civil rather than racioethnic "nation" (see below).

人民 in PRC's name has the sense of "affiliates" (民) under themselves as "people" (人) -- i.e., a state's affiliated inhabitants as a civil demographic cohort -- hence the wide use of 人民 from around the middle of the 19th century, in both international treaties and some domestic laws, to mean "the people" as affiliates of one, or two or more, states.

"Chinese"

While the name of the country 中國人 is "middle-state people" graphically reflects "middle-flower-nation's state" or "middle-flower-nation's state".

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1947 ROC Constitution

When Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers on 2 September 1945, to end World War II, the Republic of China regained control and jurisdiction of parts of China which had been occupied by Japan since 1937 and 1938. On 25 October 1945, ROC also gained control of Taiwan and the Penghu islands, which the Ching (Qing) government had ceded to Japan in 1895. These and other political developments -- including the enactment of a new constitution in Occupied Japan, promulgated 3 November 1946 and enforced from 3 May 1947 -- prompted ROC to enact a new constitution of its own, passed on 25 December 1946, promulgated 1 January 1947, and enforced from 25 December 1947.

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Nationality in 1947 ROC constitution
With commentary on terminology

Chinese text

The Chinese text was cut and pasted from the Constitutional Reforms website of the President of the Republic of China and reformatted for presentation here. Minor variations may be found in other web editions.

ROC publishes its laws in Big5 traditional characters. Fortunately most traditional characters are included in the Shift-JIS Japanese coding used on this website. For the few traditional characters that cannot be directly displayed, I have shown the equivalent Japanese character or a description of the traditional character in square brackets.

English translation

The English translation has also been cut and pasted from ROC constitutional reform website. The English text is practically unchanged from versions published in earlier ROC yearbooks, one of which was consulted for purposes of comparison (China Yearbook 1963-64, Taipei (Taiwan, China): China Publishing Company, 1964, 1007 pages, hardcover, pages 868-885).

Commentary

Some terms have been highlighted in color to facilitate glosses or commentary.

中華民國憲法 The Constitution of the
Republic of China
中華民國三十五年十二月二十五日國民大會通過
中華民國三十六年一月一日國民政府公布
中華民國三十六年十二月二十五日施行
Passed 25 December 1946 (ROC 35)

Promulgated 1 January 1947 (ROC 36)

Enforced from 25 December 1947 (ROC 36)
第一章    總綱 Chapter I    General Provisions
第1條
中華民國基於三民主義,為民有民治民享之民主共和國
Article 1
The Republic of China, founded on the Three Principles of the People, shall be a democratic republic of the people, to be governed by the people and for the people.

Three Principles of the People

民有民治民享之 means "that the people possess, the people govern, and the people enjoy" -- reflecting Lincoln's "of the people, by the people, and for the people".

民 represents "the people" as in "the people of China". While some might take the 民 to be an abbreviation of 民族 (racioethnic nation), the intent is not necessarily to link "the people" with "the Chinese race" (中華民族). However, the first of the "Three Principles of the People" (三民主義 sānmín zhŭyì) espoused by Sun Yat-sen (Sun Wen, 1866-1925) does imbue 民 with racioethnic meanings.

Sun Yat-sen's "Three Principles of the People"
民族 (PY mínzú)   [racioethnic] nation, people, ethnos, volk, race

The "Principle of Nationalism" (民族主義) came first because Sun's primary political aim was to overthrow the Manchu Qing Dynasty and restore political power to the true "Chinese nation" or "Chinese race" (中華民族). In Sun's day, a "nation" was a racioethnic entity, and "nationalism" meant "national self-determination" (民族自決) as a matter of racioethnic pride and destiny.

Some people want to parse the name of the Republic of China as 國 (country) of 中華民 (the Chinese [Han] people). However, the intended meaning appears to be 民國 (people's country) of 中華 (China).

To the extent that Sun viewed the population of China as consisting of five racioethnic nations under a single flag, 民國 represents a plurality of "national" entities hence "republic".

Five colors and five stars

Though a publicist for Han restoration, Sun also applied the "Principle of Nationalism" to China's Mongols, Tibetans, Manchus, and Muslims. The new China would embrace the interests of all five racioethnic nations -- as symbolized by the five horizontal stripes of red, yellow, blue, white, and black on the flag of the First Republic (1911-1928).

The five stars of the national flag adopted by the People's Republic of China in 1949 has one large star to the left of an arc of four smaller stars. The history of the flag is older, however, and the stars originally represented the smaller Manchurian, Mongolian, Tibetan, and Muslim nations with the larger Han nation.

Today this symbolism has fallen out of favor, as PRC currently recognizes 55 "minority nationalities" (少數民族 shăoshù mínzú) in addition to the Han majority and a number of unclassified people. It is now more fashionable to view the stars as representing the Communist Party as the focus of the continuing class struggle among workers, peasants and farmers, petty bourgeoisie and students, and patriotic and sympathetic capitalists.

Or perhaps they are merely gold stars on a red report card.

民権 (PY mínquán)   people's rights, civil rights

The "Principle of Democracy" (民権主義) is literally about people's rights to govern themselves, and is therefore about the politics of self-governance. Sun sought to build a "people's country" (民國) or "nationals' state" (國民國家) -- a nation of people with political rights.

民生 (PY mínshēng)   people's lives, public welfare

The "Principle of People's Livelihood" (民生主義) concerned achieving a balance of property rights with the needs of the masses. The Chinese Communist Party has credited Sun with starting a socialist revolution that didn't go far enough.

第2條
中華民國之主權屬於國民全體。
Article 2
The sovereignty of the Republic of China shall reside in the whole body of citizens ( > nationals).
第3條
具中華民國國籍者為中華民國國民
Article 3
Persons possessing the nationality of the Republic of China shall be citizens ( > nationals) of the Republic of China.

nationality / nationals

The translation of 國民 as "citizen" is clearly an Americanization. The term is correctly rendered "national" in the translation of the 2000 Nationality Law (see below).

國民 in Japanese constitution

日本国民 (Nihon kokumin), in the standard English translation of Japan's 1947 Constitution, is typically rendered "the Japanese people" but once rendered "the people of Japan" (Article 97), and once rendered "Japanese nationals" (Article 10).

国民 is typically rendered "the People" as a synonym for "the Japanese people". 諸国民 is usually "all nations" or "peoples of the world" and 全世界の国民 is also "peoples of the world".

国家, 自国, and 他国 are rendered in "nation" rather than "state" or "country" metaphors.

国民 is not translated "citizen" for good reason -- it literally and legally means "person(s) affiliated with a nation" or "national(s)" by virtue of possessing a state's nationality, regardless of elements of citizenship that derive from nationality and other personal traits.

Article 10 of Japan's 1947 Constitution
第十条
日本国民たる要件は、法律でこれを定める。
Article 10
The conditions necessary for being a Japanese national shall be determined by law.

The law defining "Japanese nationals" at the time was the 1899 Nationality Law, which was soon revised as the 1950 Nationality Law.

第5條
中華民國各民族一律平等。
Article 5
There shall be equality among the various racial ( > racioethnic) groups in the Republic of China.

various racioethnic groups

Another widely distributed version -- reflecting present-day preferences for "ethnic group" rather than "race" as a label for populations of people who are presumed to have a common ancestry, says "There shall be complete equality among the various ethnic groups in the Republic of China."

各民族 (gèmínzú) is also the standard designation for any or all of the racioethnic entities that compose the singular nationality of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is typically rendered "any/all nationalities" in the English versions of PRC's constitution and laws.

PRC currently recognizes 55 "minority nationalities" (少數民族 shăoshù mínzú) in addition to the Han majority and a number of unclassified people. See PRC minority nationalities for further details.

第二章    人民之權利義務 Chapter II    Rights and Duties of the People
第7條
中華民國人民,無分男女、宗教、種族、階級、黨派,在法律上一律平等。
Article 7
All citizens ( > people) of the Republic of China, irrespective of sex, religion, race, class, or party affiliation, shall be equal before the law.

Article 14 of Japan's 1947 Constitution

Another widely distributed version says "All citizens of the Republic of China, irrespective of sex, religion, ethnic origin, class, or party affiliation, shall be equal before the law." Here, too, "race" is avoided in favor of an "ethnic origin" -- though 種族 (zhŏngzú) is arguably closer to 人種 (rénzhŏng).

The standard English version of Japan's 1947 Constitution renders 人種 (jinshu) in both Articles 14 and 44 as "race".

Articles 14 and 44 of Japan's 1947 Constitution
Japanese Chinese translation
第十四条
すべて国民は、法の下に平等であつて、人種、信条、性別、社会的身分又は門地により、政治的、経済的又は社会的関係において、差別されない。
第十四條
所有國民在法律之下一律平等,不因人種、信仰、性別、社會身分門第,而在政治、經濟、或社會關係上有所差別。

Articles 14   (standard English translation)
All of the people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.

Articles 14   (more accurate English translation)
All nationals [of Japan] are equal under the law, and they shall not be discriminated in political, economic or social relations, because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.

第44条
両議院の議員及びその選挙人の資格は、法律でこれを定める。但し、人種、信条、性別、社会的身分、門地、教育、財産又は収入によつて差別してはならない。

Article 44
The qualifications of members of both Houses and their electors shall be fixed by law. However, there shall be no discrimination because of race, creed, sex, social status, family origin, education, property or income.

第三章    國民大會 Chapter III    The National Assembly
第26條
國民大會以左列代表組織之:

  一 [毎]縣市及其同等區域各選出代表一人,但其人口逾五十萬人者,[毎]增加五十萬人,增選代表一人。縣市同等區域以法律定之。
  二 蒙古選出代表,[毎]盟四人,[毎]特別旗一人。
  三 西藏選出代表,其名額以法律定之。
  四 各民族在邊疆地區選出代表,其名額以法律定之。
  五 僑居國外之國民選出代表,其名額以法律定之。
  六 職業團體選出代表,其名額以法律定之。
  七 婦女團體選出代表,其名額以法律定之。
Article 26
The National Assembly shall be composed of the following delegates:

  1. One delegate shall be elected from each hsien, municipality, or area of equivalent status. In case its population exceeds 500,000, one additional delegate shall be elected for each additional 500,000. Areas equivalent to hsien or municipalities shall be prescribed by law;
  2. Delegates to represent Mongolia shall be elected on the basis of four for each league and one for each Special banner;
  3. The number of delegates to be elected from Tibet shall be prescribed by law;
  4. The number of delegates to be elected by various racial ( > racioethnic) groups in frontier regions shall be prescribed by law;
  5. The number of delegates to be elected by Chinese citizens ( > nationals) residing abroad shall be prescribed by law;
  6. The number of delegates to be elected by occupational groups shall be prescribed by law;
  7. The number of delegates to be elected by women's organizations shall be prescribed by law.
第六章    立法 Chapter VI    Legislation
第64條
Article 64

Article 64 provides for electing members of the Legislative Yuan, including members from Mongolian Leagues and Banners, Tibet, various racial groups in frontier regions, Chinese citizens residing abroad, occupational groups, and women's organizations.

第一三章    基本國策
第六 節    邊疆地區
Chapter XIII    Fundamental National Polices
Section 6    Frontier Regions
第168條
國家對於邊疆地區各民族之地位,應予以合法之保障,並於其地方自治事業,特別予以扶植。
Article 168
The State shall accord to various racial ( > racioethnic) groups in the frontier regions legal protection of their status and shall give special assistance to their local self-government undertakings.
第169條
國家對於邊疆地區各民族之教育、文化、交通、水利、衛生及其他經濟、社會事業,應積極舉[ban4 辛力辛 = 弁],並扶助其發展,對於土地使用,應依其氣候、土壤性質,及人民生活習慣之所宜,予以保障及a「展。
Article 169
The State shall, in a positive manner, undertake and foster the develop of education, culture, communications, water conservancy, public health and other economic and social enterprises of the various racial ( > racioethnic) groups in the frontier regions. With respect to the utilization of land, the State shall, after taking into account the climatic conditions, the nature of the soil, and the life and habits ( > customs) of the people, adopt measures to protect the land and to assist in its development.

the people

Here we have an example of 人民 (rénmín) used in its typical sense of "the people" as a generic term for "the people of XXX" commonly used in expressions like the "people of the China" and "the people of Japan" and "the people of the United States of America". It is, of course, the same "people" in the name of the People's Republic of China (中華人民共和國).

Top  


2000 ROC Nationality Law revised through 2006

The Republic of China was the last of five Asian states -- DPRK (1963), PRC (1980), Japan (1985), and ROK (1998), ROC (2000) -- to adopt an ambilineal (either father or mother) criterion for acquiring nationality at time of birth through a national parent. Previously to revising their laws, all these countries, like most states in the world until very recently, granted their nationality primarily according to patrilineal descent from a national.

That DPRK and PRC were the first to abandon patrilineality in favor of ambilineality reflects their socialist commitment to equal treatment of men and women under law. Though the 1947 constitutions of both Japan and ROC provided for equality of the sexes under law, neither state revised its nationality laws to reflect this notion until after they had ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which was adopted by the United Nations in December 1979 and opened for signing in March 1980.

Top  

2000 ROC Nationality Law revised through 2006
With commentary on terminology

2006 version of 2000 law

The following texts reflect revisions to the 23-article Nationality Law of 2000, revised through 2006.

Chinese text

The Chinese text was cut and pasted from the Laws and Regulations Database of the Republic of China on ROC's Ministry of Justice website and reformatted for presentation here. Minor variations may be found in other web editions.

ROC publishes its laws in Big5 traditional characters. Fortunately most traditional characters are included in the Shift-JIS Japanese coding used on this website. For the few traditional characters that cannot be directly displayed, I have shown the equivalent Japanese character or a description of the traditional character in square brackets.

English translation

The English translation has also been cut and pasted from ROC's Ministry of Justice law database. The translation is stylistically very clumsy and otherwise fails to illuminate the finer texture of the original law. Better translations of the earlier versions of the law exist but I have chosen to show the version posted on ROC's MOJ website.

Commentary

Some terms have been highlighted in color to facilitate glosses and other commentary.

中華民國
国籍法
Nationality Act of the
Republic of China
中華民國18年1月29日制定20條
中華民國18年2月5日國民政府公布

中華民國89年1月14日修正全文23條
中華民國89年2月9日華總一義字第8900032920號總統令修正公布

中華民國90年6月1日修正第20條
中華民國90年6月20日華總一義字第9000118960號總統令修正公布第20條條文

中華民國94年5月20日修正第3至6,15條刪除第21條
中華民國94年6月15日華總一義字第09400088881號總統令公布刪除第21條條文、並修正第3條至第6條及第15條條文

中華民國95年1月6日修正第10,20條
中華民國95年1月27日華總一義字第09500011641號總統令修正公布第10條及第20條條文
20-article law
Enacted 29 January 1929 (ROC 18)
Promulgated 5 February 1929 (ROC 18)
by the National Government of the Republic of China

23-article revised law
Enacted 14 January 2000 (ROC 89)
Promulgated 9 February 2000 (ROC 89)
by Hua-zong-yi-yi-tzu No. 8900032920
Order of President

Revision to Article 20
Enacted 1 June 2001 (ROC 90)
Promulgated 20 June 2001 (ROC 90)
by Hua-zong-yi-yi-tzu No. 9000118960
Order of President

Revisions to Articles 3-6 and 15,
and deletion of Article 21

Enacted 20 May 2005 (R0C 94)
Promulgated 15 June 2005 (ROC 94)
by Hua-zong-yi-yi-tzu No. 09400088881
Order of President

Revisions to Articles 10 and 20
Enacted 6 January 2006 (R0C 95)
Promulgated 27 January 2006 (ROC 95)
by Hua-zong-yi-yi-tzu No. 09500011641
Order of President
第一條
中華民國國籍之取得、喪失、回復與撤銷、依本法之規定。
Article 1
Acquisition, loss, restoration and withdrawal of the nationality of the Republic of china shall be subject to the provisions of this Act.
第二條
有下列各款情形之一者、屬中華民國國籍:

  一、出生時父或母為中華民國國民
  二、出生於父或母死亡後、其父或母死亡時為中華民國國民。
  三、出生於中華民國領域[内]、父母均無可考、或均無國籍者。。
  四、歸化者。

前項第一款及第二款之規定、於本法修正公布時之未成年人、亦適用之。
Article 2
A person shall have the nationality of the Republic of China under any of the conditions provided by the following subparagraphs:

  1. His/Her father or mother was a national of the Republic of China when he/she was born.
  2. He/She was born after the death of his/her father or mother, and his/her father or mother was a national of the Republic of China at the time of death.
  3. He/She was born in the territory of the Republic of China, and his/her parents can't be ascertained or both were stateless persons.
  4. He/She has undergone the nationalization process.

Preceding subparagraph 1 and subparagraph 2 shall also apply to the persons who were minors at the time of the revision and promulgation of this Act.
第三條
外國人或無國籍人、現於中華民國領域[内]有住所、並具備下列各款要件者、得申請歸化:

  一、於中華民國領域[内]、[毎]年合計有一百八十三日以上合法居留之事實繼續五年以上。
  二、年滿二十[歳]並依中華民國法律及其本國法均有行為能力
  三、品行端正、無犯罪紀[録]。
  四、有相當之財[産]或專業技能、足以自立、或生活保障無虞。
  五、具備我國基本語言能力及國民權利義務基本常識。

前項第五款所定我國基本語言能力及國民權利義務基本常識、其認定、測試、免試、收費及其他應遵行事項之標準、由[内]政部定之。
Article 3
A foreign national or stateless person who now has a domicile in the territory of the Republic of China, if meeting concurrently the requisites provided in the following subparagraphs, can apply for nationalization:

  1. He/She annually has resided in the territory of the Republic of China for more than 183 days in total for more than 5 continuous years.
  2. He /She is 20 years old or older and has the capacity to act in accordance with both the laws of the Republic of China and the laws of his/her own country.
  3. He/She behaves decently and has no records of crime.
  4. He/She has enough property or professional skills for his/her self-support or ensuring his/her living.
  5. He/She possesses basic language ability in the language of our country and understands the basic common knowledge of national's rights and obligations.

The standards of determination, testing, exempting from testing, charging and other matters to be observed regarding the basic language ability and basic common knowledge of our country's national's rights and obligations provided in the preceding subparagraph 5 shall be set by the Ministry of the Interior.
第四條
外國人或無國籍人、現於中華民國領域[内]有住所、具備前條第一項第二款至第五款要件、於中華民國領域[内]、[毎]年合計有一百八十三日以上合法居留之事實繼續三年以上、並有下列各款情形之一者、亦得申請歸化:

>   一、為中華民國國民之配偶。
  二、父或母現為或曾為中華民國國民。
  三、為中華民國國民之養子女。
  四、出生於中華民國領域[内]。

未成年之外國人或無國籍人、其父、母或養父母現為中華民國國民者、在中華民國領域[内]合法居留雖未滿三年且未具備前條第一項第二款、第四款及第五款要件、亦得申請歸化。
Article 4
A foreign national or stateless person who now has a domicile in the territory of the Republic of China, if meeting the requisites provided in subparagraph 2 to subparagraph 5 of paragraph 1 of the preceding article, has legally resided in the territory of the Republic of China totally for more than 183 days every year for more than 3 continuous years, under any of the conditions provided by the following subparagraphs, can also apply for nationalization:

  1. He/She is the spouse of a national of the Republic of China.
  2. His/Her father or mother is or was once a national of the Republic of China.
  3. He/She is an adopted child of a national of the Republic of China.
  4. He/She was born in the territory of the Republic of China.

A foreign national or stateless person who is a minor, if his/her father, mother or adoptive parents now is or are national (s) of the Republic of China, even if he /she has legally resided in the territory of the Republic of China less than 3 years and doesn't meet the requisites provided in subparagraph 2, subparagraph 4 and subparagraph 5 of paragraph 1 of preceding Article, can also apply for nationalization.
第五條
外國人或無國籍人、現於中華民國領域[内]有住所、具備第三條第一項第二款至第五款要件、並具有下列各款情形之一者、亦得申請歸化:

  一、出生於中華民國領域[内]、其父或母亦出生於中華民國領域[内]。
  二、曾在中華民國領域[内]合法居留繼續十年以上。
Article 5
A foreign national or stateless person who now has a domicile in the territory of the Republic of China, if meeting the requisites provided in subparagraph 2 to subparagraph 5 of paragraph 1 of Article 3, under any of the conditions provided by the following subparagraphs, can also apply for nationalization:

  1. He/She was born in the territory of the Republic of China, and his/her father or mother was also born in the territory of the Republic of China.
  2. He/She has legally resided in the territory of the Republic of China for more than 10 years continuously.
第六條
外國人或無國籍人、有殊勳於中華民國者、雖不具備第三條第一項各款要件、亦得申請歸化。[内]政部為前項歸化之許可、應經行政院核准。
Article 6
A foreign national or stateless person who has made special contributions to the Republic of China but doesn't meet the requisites provided in subparagraphs of paragraph 1 of Article 1, can also apply for nationalization. Permission of nationalization by the Ministry of the Interior shall be approved by the Executive Yuan.
第七條
歸化人之未婚未成年子女、得申請隨同歸化。
Article 7
Unmarried and minor children of a nationalized person may apply for accompanying nationalization.
第八條
外國人或無國籍人依第三條至第七條申請歸化者、應向[内]政部為之、並自許可之日起取得中華民國國籍。
Article 8
A foreign national or stateless person who applies for nationalization according to Article 3 to Article 7 shall file the application with the Ministry of the Interior and shall acquire the nationality of the Republic of China from the date of the permission.
第九條
外國人依第三條至第七條申請歸化者、應提出喪失其原有國籍之證明。但能提出因非可歸責當事人事由、致無法取得該證明並經外交機關[査]證屬實者、不在此限。
Article 9
A foreign national who applies for nationalization according to Article 3 to Article 7 shall provide the certification of his/her loss of previous nationality. But if he/she alleges he/she can't obtain the certification for causes not attributable to him/her and foreign affairs authorities investigate and determine that this is true, then he/she needs not to provide the certification.
第十條
外國人或無國籍人歸化者、不得擔任下列各款公職:

  一、總統、副總統。
  二、立法委員。
  三、行政院院長、副院長、政務委員;司法院院長、副院長、大法官;考試院院長、副院長、考試委員;監察院院長、副院長、監察委員、審計長。
  四、特任、特派之人員。
  五、各部政務次長。
  六、特命全權大使、特命全權公使。
  七、蒙藏委員會副委員長、委員;僑務委員會副委員長。
  八、其他比照簡任第十三職等以上職務之人員。
  九、陸海空軍將官。
  十、民選地方公職人員。

前項限制、自歸化日起滿十年後解除之。但其他法律[ling4 口力]有規定者、從其規定。
Article 10
Nationalized foreign nationals or stateless persons have no right to hold the government offices stipulated in the following subparagraphs:

  1. President, vice president.
  2. Legislator.
  3. Premier, vice premier or minister without portfolio of the Executive Yuan; president, vice president or Grand Justices of the Judicial Yuan; president, vice president or members of the Examination Yuan; president, vice president, members or auditor-general of the Control Yuan.
  4. Personnel specially appointed or designated.
  5. Deputy Minister of each Ministry.
  6. Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary.
  7. Vice minister or commissioner of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission; vice minister of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission.
  8. Other government offices shall be compared with personnel holding selected ranks above the thirteenth grade.
  9. General officer of the land, navy or air force.
  10. Local government office position elected by the people.

The foregoing restrictions shall be lifted after 10 years from the date of nationalization, but if otherwise provided by any other act, the provisions of that act shall prevail.
第十一條
中華民國國民有下列各款情形之一者、經[内]政部許可、喪失中華民國國籍:

  一、生父為外國人、經其生父認領者。
  二、父無可考或生父未認領、母為外國人者。
  三、為外國人之配偶者。
  四、為外國人之養子女者。
  五、年滿二十[歳]、依中華民國法律有行為能力人、自願取得外國國籍者。

依前項規定喪失中華民國國籍者、其未成年子女、經[内]政部許可、隨同喪失中華民國國籍。
Article 11
With the permission of the Ministry of the Interior, a national of the Republic of China may lose his/her nationality of the Republic of China under any of the following conditions:

  1. His/Her natural father is a foreign national, and he/she is acknowledged by his/her natural father.
  2. His/Her father can't be ascertained or he/she is not acknowledged by his/her natural father, and his/her mother is a foreign national.
  3. He/She is the spouse of a foreign national.
  4. He/She is the adopted child of a foreign national.
  5. He/She is 20 years old and has the capacity to act according to the laws of the Republic of China and acquires the nationality of another country voluntarily.

Minor children of a person who abdicated the nationality of the Republic of China according to the preceding paragraph shall concurrently lose the nationality of the Republic of China with the permission of the Ministry of the Interior.
第十二條
依前條規定申請喪失國籍者、有下列各款情形之一、[内]政部不得為喪失國籍之許可:

  一、男子年滿十五[歳]之翌年一月一日起、未免除服兵役義務、尚未服兵役者。但僑居國外國民、在國外出生且於國[内]無[戸]籍者或在年滿十五[歳]當年十二月三十一日以前遷出國外者、不在此限。
  二、現役軍人。
  三、現任中華民國公職者。
Article 12
For a person who applies to abdicate his/her nationality according to the preceding paragraph, under any of the following conditions, the Ministry of the Interior shall not permit the loss of nationality:

  1. A man from January 1 of the next year after he was 15 years old, who is not exempted from military service and has not fulfilled his military service. But nationals, who reside overseas and were born overseas, and have no family registration in the Republic of China or moved overseas before December 31 of the year they were 15 years old, shall be excluded.
  2. He/she is in active military service.
  3. He/she now holds a government office of the Republic of China.
第十三條
有下列各款情形之一者、雖合於第十一條之規定、仍不喪失國籍:

  一、為偵[査]或審判中之刑事被告。
  二、受有期徒刑以上刑之宣告、尚未執行完畢者。
  三、為民事被告。
  四、受強制執行、未終結者。
  五、受破[産]之宣告、未復權者。
  六、有滯納租[税]或受租[税]處分罰鍰未[jiao3 糸偏の激 = 納]清者。
Article 13
Under any of the following conditions, a national who meets the provisions of Article 11 shall not lose his/her nationality:

  1.He/She is a criminal defendant under investigation or trial.
  2.He/She was sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment and the sentence has not been completely served.
  3.He/She is a civil defendant.
  4.He/She is the subject of a court judgment or administrative order and the judgment or order has not been fully executed yet.
  5.He/She was pronounced bankrupt and his/her rights were not restored.
  6.He/She is obligated to pay overdue tax or arrears of tax penalty.
第十四條
依第十一條規定喪失中華民國國籍者、未取得外國國籍時、得經[内]政部之許可、撤銷其國籍之喪失。
Article 14
For a person who loses the nationality of the Republic of China according to Article 11, during the time he/she has not acquired the nationality of another country, his/her loss of nationality may be withdrawn with the permission of Ministry of the Interior.
第十五條
依第十一條規定喪失中華民國國籍者、現於中華民國領域[内]有住所、並具備第三條第一項第三款、第四款要件、得申請回復中華民國國籍。歸化人及隨同歸化之子女喪失國籍者、不適用前項規定。
Article 15
For a person who loses the nationality of the Republic of China according to Article 11, if he/she now has a domicile in the territory of the Republic of China and meets the requisites provided in subparagraph 3 and subparagraph 4 of paragraph 1 of Article 3, he/she may apply for restoring his/her nationality of the Republic of China.

The preceding subparagraph shall not apply to nationalized persons and their children nationalized concurrently who lost the nationality of the Republic of China.
第十六條
回復中華民國國籍者之未成年子女、得申請隨同回復中華民國國籍。
Article 16
Minor children of a person who has had restored his/her nationality of the Republic of China may apply for concurrently restoring their nationality of the Republic of China.
第十七條
依第十五條及第十六條申請回復中華民國國籍者、應向[内]政部為之、並自許可之日起回復中華民國國籍。
Article 17
A person who applies for restoring his/her of the nationality of the Republic of China according to Article 15 to Article 16 shall file the application with the Ministry of the Interior and shall have his/her nationality of the Republic of China restored from the date of permission.
第十八條
回復中華民國國籍者、自回復國籍日起三年[内]、不得任第十條第一項各款公職。但其他法律[ling4 口力]有規定者、從其規定。
Article 18
A person who has had restored the nationality of the Republic of China has no right to hold the government offices provided in the subparagraphs of paragraph 1 of Article 10 within 3 years from the date of restoration of the nationality, but if otherwise provided by another act, the provisions of that act shall prevail.
第十九條
歸化、喪失或回復中華民國國籍後、五年[内]發現有與本法之規定不合情形、應予撤銷。
Article 19
If it is found that the nationalization, loss or restoration of the nationality of the Republic of China is not conforming to the provisions of this Act within 5 years, the nationalization, loss or restoration shall be withdrawn.
第二十條
中華民國國民取得外國國籍者、不得擔任中華民國公職;其已擔任者、除立法委員由立法院;直轄市、縣(市)、[郷](鎮、市)民選公職人員、分別由行政院、[内]政部、縣政府;村(里)長由[郷](鎮、市、區)公所解除其公職外、由各該機關免除其公職。但下列各款經該管主管機關核准者、不在此限:

  一、公立大學校長、公立各級學校教師兼任行政主管人員與研究機關(構)首長、副首長、研究人員(含兼任學術研究主管人員)及經各級主管教育行政或文化機關核准設立之社會教育或文化機構首長、副首長、聘任之專業人員(含兼任主管人員)。
  二、公營事業中對經營政策負有主要決策責任以外之人員。
  三、各機關專司技術研究設計工作而以契約定期聘用之非主管職務。
  四、僑務主管機關依組織法[lin2 進入偏の燐 = 選]聘僅供諮詢之無給職委員。
  五、其他法律[ling4 口力]有規定者。

前項第一款至第三款人員、以具有專長或特殊技能而在我國不易覓得之人才且不[渉]及國家機密之職務者為限。

第一項之公職、不包括公立各級學校未兼任行政主管之教師、講座、研究人員、專業技術人員。

中華民國國民兼具外國國籍者、擬任本條所定應受國籍限制之公職時、應於就(到)職前[ban4 辛力辛 = 弁]理放棄外國國籍、並於就(到)職之日起一年[内]完成喪失該國國籍及取得證明文件。但其他法律[ling4 口力]有規定者、從其規定。
Article 20
A national of the Republic of China who acquires the nationality of another country has no right to hold government offices of the Republic of China. If he/she has held a government office, the relevant authority shall discharge his/her government office; a legislator shall be discharged by the Legislative Yuan, government service personnel elected by the people of a directly governed city, county(city), township(township, city) shall be discharged by the Executive Yuan, the Ministry of the Interior, or a county government respectively, a village(li) chief shall be discharged by the township(township, city, district) office, but the following subparagraphs shall not be subject to this restriction if provided by the competent authorities:

  1. Presidents of public universities, teachers who concurrently serve as administrative governors of public school of all levels, principals, vice principals or researchers (including researchers who concurrently serve as governors of academic research) of research organs (bodies) and principals, vice principals and contracted professionals (including part-time governors) of social education or culture bodies established with the approval of the competent administrative authority of education or culture authorities.
  2. Personnel in public-operated utilities other than the persons who take primary decision-making responsibility for the operational policy.
  3. Non-governor positions focusing on technology research and design regularly engaged through contract by various authorities.
  4. Commissioners without position engaged through selection for consultation only according to the organizational law by the competent authority of overseas Chinese affairs.
  5. Otherwise provided by other acts.

Persons in subparagraph 1 to subparagraph 3 of the preceding paragraph shall be limited to talents who have expertise or special skills difficult to find in our country and occupy positions not involving state secrets.

Government services of subparagraph 1 don't include teachers, lecturers and research personnel, professional technical personnel who do not concurrently serve as administrative governors at all levels of public schools.

If a national of the Republic of China who concurrently has the nationality of another country wants to hold a government office limited by nationality as determined by this Article, he/she shall handle the waiver of the other country's nationality before taking office, and complete the abdication of that country's nationality and the acquisition of certification documents within 1 year from the date of taking office, but if otherwise provided by another act, the provisions of that act shall prevail.
第二十一條
[内]政部依本法受理申請許可、核發證書、應收取證書費其收費標準、由[内]政部定之。(刪除)
Article 21
The Ministry of the Interior while accepting an application and issuing a certificate in accordance with this Law, shall charge a certificate fee. The fee rate shall be decided by the Ministry of the Interior. (Deleted)
第二十二條
本法施行細則由[内]政部定之。
Article 22
Detailed implementation of this Act shall be set down by the Ministry of the Interior.
第二十三條
本法自公布日施行。
Article 23
This Act shall come into force as of the date of its promulgation.

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