爭議性公民權：海外台灣人和在台藏人／圖博人的公民身份爭議

Navigating In-Betweenness: Contested Citizenship of Tibetan Exiles and Overseas Taiwanese

本文改寫自筆者的博士論文，並進行延伸討論。文章從爭議性公民權的理論出發，探討台灣主權爭議如何影響台灣法律架構下的公民權，進而造成在台藏人／圖博人與海外台灣人的公民身份問題。台灣主權爭議向來是國際法中的常見議題之一。主流觀點多將台灣主權視為中國內戰未解決的問題（Crawford 2006），但此類看法長期忽略台灣人民的觀點，並常將台灣主權與中華民國政權視為一體。
本文並非聚焦於主權問題，然因其為台灣公民權脆弱性的主因，故將予以簡要介紹。其次，本文將討論兩個不同的群體：海外台灣人與流亡藏人／圖博人。海外台灣人則是持有中華民國公民身份，旅居或定居海外。由於台灣公民身份的不穩定性，加以他國不顧國際法上討論國籍承認時應參考的真實連結，這些海外台灣人經常面臨公民身份遭否定的問題。另外，在台灣的流亡藏人／圖博人在台灣法律架構下持有三重身份：憲法上屬於「西藏地區人民」、移民法中被視為「無國籍人」、卻又可能被認定為「外國人」。儘管這兩群體所面臨的公民身份問題不同，但在身份否定的議題上，兩者皆因中華民國法律架構而呈現公民身份的複雜化。因此，本文綜合分析現有法制對公民身份的影響與限制，進而說明其如何導致海外台灣人與在台藏人／圖博人的公民身份爭議以及不同群體對爭議性公民身份的反抗和法律論述。

This paper is based on the author’s PhD thesis and examines contested citizenship—a form of citizenship marked by precarious legal status—through the case of Taiwan, an understudied subject. Taiwanese citizenship provides a compelling example of how contested sovereignty influences citizenship rights. Taiwan’s sovereignty has long been debated in international law, with its ambiguity stemming from tensions with China, the absence of de jure recognition, and internal ambivalence toward the sovereignty issue. Consequently, Taiwan’s citizenship system inherently reflects this unstable statehood.
The paper focuses on two groups significantly affected by the contestation of Taiwanese citizenship. The first group comprises overseas Taiwanese—individuals who travel or reside abroad—who often face denial or misrecognition of their nationality. By applying the genuine link theory, widely used in international law and citizenship studies, the paper examines how states should assess nationality recognition. It argues that the denial or misrecognition of Taiwanese citizenship frequently disregards individuals’genuine connection to Taiwan. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case Liu and Others v. Norway serves as a case study illustrating the challenges of recognising Taiwanese citizenship in practice. The second group consists of Tibetan exiles in Taiwan, whose legal status is particularly complex. Under the Republic of China’s law, they may simultaneously hold triple identities: as nationals under the Constitution, as stateless persons under the Immigration Act, and as foreigners in practice. These triple identities complicate their pursuit of Taiwanese citizenship, often resulting in problematic administrative procedures and reinforcing the contestation of their legal status. To illustrate these challenges, the paper examines two lawsuits involving Tibetan exiles in Taiwan.
While these two groups encounter different circumstances regarding citizenship denial, both cases highlight how the legal framework of the Republic of China produces distinct forms of contested citizenship. This paper also considers the legal strategies and discourses employed by affected individuals, arguing that they actively exercise agency not only to eschew unwanted legal identities but also to keep the debate surrounding their citizenship status ongoing