Taiwan court acquits HK civil servant over draft evasion

A Hong Kong-born civil servant has been acquitted by a court in Taiwan of evading military service after the judge ruled he had no subjective intent to avoid conscription, according to Taiwanese media reports.

The man, surnamed Hu, in his 30s, was born in Hong Kong and grew up there. In 1999, his mother registered a household registration for him in Taichung and applied for a Taiwanese passport. He used the passport to travel in and out of Taiwan five times, with his last departure in 2003.

In 2006, his mother handled military service registration on his behalf, and in 2007 his household registration was cancelled due to being overseas for over two years. Prosecutors argued this did not automatically revoke his nationality.

The case came to light in 2016 when Hu entered Taiwan using his Hong Kong passport without declaring his Taiwanese citizenship. He was subsequently placed under military service monitoring. The Taichung District Office sent him multiple notices in 2018 ordering him to return for a military physical examination within six months, but he failed to appear, leading to prosecution.

Hu denied the charges, stating he had lived and studied in Hong Kong his entire life and is now a Hong Kong civil servant. He said he had no knowledge of his Taiwanese household registration or military obligations, as his mother had handled all affairs without his awareness. His mother passed away in 2012.

The court ruled that Hu had never resided in Taiwan and had only made brief visits as a tourist. Since he had no knowledge of his conscription obligations and had legally entered Taiwan using his Hong Kong passport, he lacked the subjective intent to evade military service. The court therefore acquitted him, with the verdict still subject to appeal.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓