Taiwan to recognise same-sex marriages between locals and Chinese nationals

Taiwan will now recognise same-sex marriages between Taiwanese and Chinese nationals, finally making it legal for cross-strait couples to get married.

The news came during a briefing by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on 19 September and gives same-sex couples parity with heterosexual couples.

As with heterosexual marriages, under the new regulations couples made up of Taiwanese and Chinese nationals will need to get married in a third country where equal marriage is legal, like the UK. They will then be able to legally register their marriage in Taiwan.

To do so, they will need to provide relevant documentation and undergo an interview process at their point of entry into the country.

“A long-awaited, difficult but navigable path home” – the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights

“After passing an interview with the relevant authorities, the couple can proceed with marriage registration at a household registration office,” said Liang Wen-chieh, the deputy head of MAC.

The restrictions on cross-strait marriages are in place, Liang said, “to prevent cross-border fake marriages and avoid problems of national security and social order.”

Despite the changes, Chinese spouses in same-sex couples will still likely still struggle to obtain a Taiwanese ID.

Currently, in order to obtain permanent residency in Taiwan, Chinese nationals must first relinquish their household registration in China. However, as China does not recognise same-sex marriages, the country is unlikely to approve deregistration.

In a group statement, the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights and other equality organisations described the changes for cross-strait couples as “a long-awaited, difficult but navigable path home”.

However, they noted that the fact that cross-strait couples still needed to get married abroad meant that they “still have higher economic and class barriers to marriage”.

Taiwan has long been at the forefront of progressing LGBTQ+ rights in the region. In 2019, it became the first Asian nation to recognise same-sex marriages after it was ruled that the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman was unconstitutional.