SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: EAST ASIA passports.799 Article 32 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons stipulates that naturalization should be expedited for stateless persons to “reduce as far as possible the charges and costs of such proceedings”.800 The application of the citizenship laws in East Asia is further complicated by household registration systems which simultaneously operate. Convention, which defines a stateless person as someone “who is not considered as a national by any State under operation of its law”, which notably does not place the burden of proof on the stateless person.789 Stateless persons are explicitly eligible to apply for naturalization in Mongolia, North Korea, and Taiwan and may be eligible in China if they meet the relevant requirements and in Japan if they meet the requirements for the separate naturalization process for aliens.790 Provisions for naturalization in China’s Nationality Law also apply to Hong Kong, with foreign nationals or stateless persons able to apply for naturalization.791 Additionally, Hong Kong utilizes the concept of "right of abode", which only permanent residents enjoy, providing them with various rights, including the rights to land and stay in Hong Kong792, as well as the rights to stand for election in accordance with law793. Anyone found to be residing in Hong Kong without permanent residence may be deported from Hong Kong.794 Non-chinese citizens are eligible if they have legally entered Hong Kong, ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for at least seven continuous years, and have “taken Hong Kong as their permanent place of residence” or are under 21 years of age and were born in Hong Kong to at least one permanent resident.795 East Asia is the only sub-region in the Asia-Pacific without discriminatory provisions present in the citizenship laws of any State. No country in East Asia, except Taiwan provides a simplified or expedited naturalization process for stateless persons. TABLE 18 of wedlock with a foreign man to acknowledge the birth of their child due to legislation automatically certifying their relationship, Japanese men who have had a child with a foreign women out of wedlock do have to make an acknowledgement of his relationship with the child in order for the child to gain citizenship by descent.784 The application of the citizenship laws in East Asia is further complicated by household registration systems which simultaneously operate. The impact of these systems on the realization of citizenship is specifically notable in China, Japan, and Taiwan.785 In China and Taiwan, nationals are afforded different rights based on whether they do or do not hold ‘Household Registration’.786 Only those who hold a ‘Household Registration’ have access to complete residential and voting rights in Taiwan.787 This extra administrative layer complicates the task of mapping laws within these countries as citizenship laws form only a component of a larger web of laws and policies that impact an individual’s ability to gain and prove their citizenship. Naturalized citizenship No country in East Asia, except Taiwan provides a simplified or expedited naturalization process for stateless persons. In the Enforcement Rules of the Nationality Act of Taiwan, a stateless person is defined as “a person who is not recognized as the citizen of any country according to the laws of that country”.788 This aligns with the 1954 Statelessness East Asia is the only sub-region in the Asia-Pacific without discriminatory provisions present in the citizenship laws of any State. 74 SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: EAST ASIA In South Korea’s citizenship law, only ‘foreigners’ are mentioned to be eligible for naturalization.796 While North Korea states that stateless persons are eligible for naturalization, its legislation provides no details on the process of naturalization.797 Countries which have permanent residence requirements for naturalization, including Japan, Mongolia, and South Korea, all require five years residence prior to application for naturalization.798 In China, the requirement to show a copy of the applicant’s passport in the application may act as a barrier to stateless persons who are unlikely to have STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) around renunciation of nationality,805 and the bar on dual nationality806 has left many ethnic Kazakhs stateless.807 South Korea’s legislation provides some protection against this in stipulating that foreign citizens must renounce prior citizenship within one year of receiving South Korean citizenship.808 Taiwan similarly requires that foreign citizens who are not eligible to keep dual citizenship provide a certificate of loss of previous nationality within one year of being approved for naturalization in Taiwan.809 If they fail to do so, their naturalized citizenship will be revoked.810 The renunciation process is not explained in China, Hong Kong, or North Korea. Article 7(1) (a) of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness states that State parties which allow renunciation of citizenship must ensure that “such renunciation shall not result in loss of nationality unless the person concerned possesses or acquires another nationality”.811 In South Korea’s citizenship law, only ‘foreigners’ are mentioned to be eligible for naturalization. Dual citizenship Dual citizenship is generally not recognized in any of the countries in East Asia.801 However, South Korea and Taiwan do allow for dual citizenship only in exceptional cases. Taiwan allows dual nationality only for foreign nationals who have made “special contributions to Taiwanese society” and are “highlevel foreign professionals” in certain fields.802 In South Korea, children born to South Korean parents outside the territory of Korea, marriage migrants, naturalized foreigners of outstanding talent and those who previously held Korean citizenship are eligible to maintain dual citizenship.803 In Japan and Mongolia, foreign citizens applying for naturalization must first renounce their foreign citizenship, leaving them in an indefinite period of statelessness throughout the application process.804 In Mongolia, a lack of legal safeguards Treaty ratification status South Korea and Hong Kong are the only States in the region party to either of the Stateless Conventions, having ratified the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.812 Status of Accession of International Human Rights Treaties in East Asia Country Stateless 1 Stateless 2 Refugee ICCPR ICESCR ICERD CRC CEDAW Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ⛔ ✅ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ✅ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ✅ ⛔ ✅ ⛔ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ⛔* ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ⛔ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ 2 0 3 6 7 6 7 7 Hong Kong SAR Japan Mongolia People’s Republic of China Republic of China Republic of Korea Total * Signed but not ratified ✅ ⛔ Signifies that the country is a party to the convention Signifies that the country is not a party to the convention Stateless 1 - 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons Stateless 2 - 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness REPORT 2024 75