SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: EAST ASIA in the event that the parents fail to provide the required written agreement in order to gain citizenship. Article 1 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness states that State parties “shall grant nationality to a person born in its territory who would otherwise be stateless” either “by birth, by operation of law, or upon and application”.852 Citizenship stripping After World War II, there were massive amounts of people who were displaced across East Asia.853 After Japan was defeated at the end of the war, ethnic Koreans and Taiwanese residing in Japan went from being colonial subjects to foreigners.854 As a result, approximately 52,000 ethnic Koreans were stripped of Japanese citizenship.855 Ethnic Koreans in Japan were unable to return home to Korea due to division and political danger in Korea.856 Around 250,000 people who were in this scenario chose not to apply for South Korean citizenship and remained stateless as they were also unable to obtain Japanese citizenship.857 In 2021, more than 26,000 persons and their descendants have not had their citizenship status resolved.858 SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: EAST ASIA deported.860 Further, if in Taiwan it is found that the marriage of a foreign spouse and citizen is fraudulent, the government has the power to strip citizenship from foreign spouses, leaving them stateless.861 Administrative barriers Birth registration in China is low for adopted children, migrant children and girls, children who exceed the “sanctioned” family size, and those affected by the hukou system.868 Further, there is a need to ensure ethnic Kazakh childrens’ births are registered in Mongolia.869 Despite South Korea reporting a 100% birth registration rate870, there While protection may exist in the citizenship laws of most States, administrative barriers to accessing citizenship and the application of the citizenship laws in East Asia is fundamentally complicated by household registration systems which simultaneously operate. The central role played by household registration in verifying one’s citizenship and realizing the associated rights cannot be overstated. The impact of these Birth registration in China is low for adopted children, migrant children and girls, children who exceed the “sanctioned” family size, and those affected by the hukou system. FIGURE 2 Birth registration rates of the countries in East Asia Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea Requirement of birth registration for citizenship acquisition In both Japan872 and Mongolia873, a birth certificate is evidence of citizenship. There was a lack of sufficient data to determine documents which prove citizenship in South Korea and North Korea. Birth registration in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan is not a required document for acquisition of nationality; however, children would not be able to enjoy full citizenship rights without birth registration as it is a part of the respective household registration systems which determine nationality rights.874 90-99%862(2022) Japan 100%863(2022) Mongolia 100%864(2021) People’s Republic of China * Republic of China (Taiwan) * Republic of Korea 100%865(2022) In both Taiwan and South Korea, foreign spouses whose marriage is determined to be a ‘sham’ or ‘fraudulent’ have been stripped of their citizenship and rendered stateless (as both States have required the renunciation of one’s former nationality prior to gaining the nationality of their spouse).859 * No reported rates available. In China, if a citizen is convicted of a criminal offense, they can lose Chinese citizenship and be Source: “Birth and Death Registration Completeness” (UN Statistics Division, April 2023); Data Warehouse,” UNICEF DATA, https://data.unicef.org/resources/data_explorer/ unicef_f/ 0 STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) is limited to no access to birth registration for children born to foreign parents, undocumented parents, and stateless parents, placing these children at risk of statelessness.871 * Hong Kong SAR After Japan was defeated at the end of the war, ethnic Koreans and Taiwanese residing in Japan went from being colonial subjects to foreigners. As a result, approximately 52,000 ethnic Koreans were stripped of Japanese citizenship. 78 systems on the realization of citizenship is specifically notable in China, Japan and South Korea among children of migrants, ethnic minority groups and those of uncertain nationalities.866 In China, there are major barriers for children of undocumented parents to register their birth for this reason.867 20 40 60 80 100 Braveheart Foundation REPORT 2024 79