For Immediate Release
Washington DC – June 19, 2012
Contact: (202) 547-3686
Rep. Berman Urges DHS To Rectify “China (Taiwan)” Reference on I94’s
In a letter dated June 19, 2012, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) urged Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to stop referring to Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” on the I-94 immigration document.
The issue was brought to the attention of FAPA by one of its New York members whose Taiwanese family crossed the border into the US from Canada at Niagara Falls, and was shocked to receive an I-94 card referring to Taiwan as “China (Taiwan).”
Earlier, in a letter dated April 30, 2012, Rep. Howard Berman had written to California Secretary of State Debra L. Bowen, urging her to correct the voter registration system in California which referred to Taiwan as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Within a week the state of California fixed the problem enabling Taiwanese Americans to list their country of birth as “Taiwan”.
Before that, in 1994, Rep. Berman was the primary force behind legislation allowing for Taiwanese Americans to list “Taiwan” in their American passports instead of “China.”
FAPA President Mark Kao says: “We Taiwanese Americans are very grateful to Congressman Berman for carrying the flag with respect to Taiwan’s name rectification. Taiwan is Taiwan. And Taiwan’s sovereignty is not an issue with which one can play politics.”
Kao continues: “Certain departments within DHS indeed refer to Taiwan as ‘Taiwan’ – others don’t. We urge the DHS to be consistent and refer to Taiwan simply as ‘Taiwan’ in all their systems. After all, this is in line with the DHS’s own guidelines.”
美國眾議員柏曼議員呼籲國土安全部更正I-94上對台灣的錯誤指稱
美國眾議院外交事務委員會副主席加州民主黨眾議員柏曼議員（Howard Berman, D-CA）於6月19日致函國土安全部部長拿波莉塔諾（Janet Napolitano）呼籲該部更改I-94入境卡上將台灣列為「中國台灣」之錯誤名稱。
此議題源起於一位台灣人公共事務會紐約分會會長從加拿大尼加拉瀑布入境美國時，赫見I-94入境卡上將台灣列為「中國台灣」。
柏曼議員曾於今年4月30日致函加州州務卿包雯，呼籲其更改加州選舉註冊系統上將台灣列為「中國台灣省」之錯誤。加州當局於一週內即修正該錯誤，讓當地台美人得以將其出生地列為「台灣」。
早於1994年，柏曼眾議員便已是推動立法允許台美人在其美國護照上將出生地列為「台灣」而非「中國」的強力推手。
台灣人公共事務會會長高龍榮表示：「我們台美人都非常感謝柏曼眾議員對於台灣正名運動的先鋒角色。台灣就是台灣，台灣的主權議題不是任何人可以用於政治操弄的。」
他並表示：「令人玩味的是，國土安全部內部只有某些部門將台灣稱為『台灣』，其他則不然。我們強烈呼籲國土安全部應該採取單一標準，在其體制內將台灣稱為『台灣』，畢竟這樣的稱呼符合國土安全部公佈的準則。」
Rep. Berman’s Letter
The Honorable Janet Napolitano
Secretary of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528Dear Secretary Napolitano,
I am writing to express my concern regarding the characterization of Taiwan on the I-94 nonimmigrant arrival-departure form and in the Global Entry Program.
It has recently come to my attention that when Taiwanese citizens enter the United States, the I-94 documents they are issued by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) lists their country of citizenship as “China (Taiwan).” Similarly, in the application process for CBP’s Global Entry Program, the CBP system refers to Taiwan as “Taiwan, Province of China.”
It has been a long-standing U.S. policy that the U.S. government refers to Taiwan as “Taiwan.” This designation is employed by the Department of State, the Department of Defense and other federal agencies. I would respectfully request that the Department of Homeland Security, and all of its constituent agencies, adopt the same terminology.
Many Taiwanese citizens travel across our borders every day. These individuals should not be required to sign their name under an inaccurate statement in an official government document. I appreciate your timely consideration of this matter and for your prompt efforts to correct this error.
Sincerely,
HOWARD L. BERMAN
Ranking Member
