TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A rally was held in Denmark last week to protest the government's new requirement that Taiwanese residents be identified as Chinese on their official documents.
In March, the Danish newspaper Berlingske reported that at least 10 Taiwanese discovered their Danish residence cards listed their nationality as Chinese. In October, the newspaper revealed the policy had been further expanded to list the birthplace of Taiwanese residents as “China.”
On Friday, Taiwan Corner, an NGO supporting Taiwanese self-determination, organized a demonstration against the rule changes outside the Danish Parliament, drawing around 25 Taiwanese and Danish participants, according to the group’s chair, Michael Danielsen. Protesters held placards with slogans such as “We are from Taiwan, not China,” “Born in Taiwan,” and “Taiwan is free, not for sale.”
During the demonstration, members of the Danish People’s Party and Liberal Alliance raised the issue with the foreign minister in the country’s parliament. Danielsen said that one alternative suggested by the foreign ministry was to list Taiwanese nationality as “Asia,” which he described as “strange.”
On Sunday, Taiwan Corner condemned the decision to require Taiwanese residents to list their nationality as China, calling it “absolutely baseless.” The organization argued, “A Taiwanese person is clearly not born in China and does not hold Chinese nationality.”
The group urged Denmark's Ministry of Immigration and Integration to restore the previous practice of listing the nationality and place of birth of Taiwanese residents as "Taiwan." It pointed out that this is consistent with Denmark’s recognition of Taiwan passports, which prominently display "Taiwan" on the cover.
Taiwan Corner further asserted that allowing Taiwanese to register as being from Taiwan does not contradict Denmark's one-China policy. Instead, the new regulations conflict with that policy since Copenhagen does not explicitly recognize Taiwan as part of China.
The organization warned that forcing Taiwanese residents to categorize themselves as Chinese aligns Denmark more closely with Beijing’s one-China principle, reducing Taiwan’s ability to determine its own future. It argued that the new nationality requirement contradicts Denmark’s democratic values, stating: “The Taiwanese have the right to determine their own future.”
