Houston Community News >> Biometric Plan Aimed at Chinese Travelers
1/3/2007-- The government’s
plan to use a biometric identification system aimed only at Chinese passengers
at nationwide points of entry will not breach human rights and will heed
national security, Executive Yuan spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang said yesterday.
Cheng made the remarks at a news conference following a weekly Executive Yuan
meeting.
Main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers attacked the planned measure by the
National Immigration Agency (NIA) earlier the same day, accusing the NIA of
targeting only Chinese entering the country — something which they criticized as
a discriminatory move that would only be put in place in a fascist regime.
Claiming that “similar” preventive measures and national security mechanisms
have been implemented in advanced countries in Europe and America, Cheng said
that the government will not apply inappropriate measures that would infringe
upon any individual’s human rights even for national security needs.
“Everyone is free to air different viewpoints, but he or she must not smear
others or twist the facts, ” Cheng argued, stressing that “the government will
certainly stick to its key principles while seeking to reinforce national
security under some special circumstances.”
During a news conference at the Legislative Yuan, KMT legislative caucus whip
Tsai Chin-lung and lawmaker Lee Ching-hua blasted the biometric identification
plan by the NIA, which was inaugurated Tuesday after being upgraded from the
Bureau of Immigration under the Ministry of the Interior to handle increased
business volume.
The NIA should apply the biometric identification measure without discrimination
to all entering foreign passengers if it wants to safeguard the nation’s
security, Tsai said, accusing the government of treating immigrant Chinese
spouses and Chinese travelers like “terrorists” for seeking to subject them and
only them to the practice.
Tsai asked the NIA to re-assess the planned measure, which is slated to be
imposed from June or July.
According to NIA Director-General Wu Chen-chi, his agency plans to first set up
a personal data bank of Chinese tourists by using facial pattern authentication
facilities and fingerprint recognition facilities in the initial stage.
The system is expected to be launched nationwide by the end of this year and the
measure will be applied to all foreign visitors, he added.
(Contributed by China Post)