TAIPEI // A woman deported to Taiwan after giving birth on a flight to the US in what may have been an attempt to give her baby American citizenship could face a hefty bill for forcing the plane to divert.
The insurance firm of China Airlines, which made an emergency landing in Alaska en-route from Taipei to Los Angeles on October 8, will decide whether to ask the passenger to cover costs of the stopover to ensure the health of her baby, Weni Lee, an airline media affairs official said Friday.
Local media have estimated the stopover bill would come to US$33,000 (Dh121,000), although the airline said its insurer was still calculating a bill.
Taiwanese media is widely reporting that the woman evidently wanted to give the child American citizenship. Before giving birth, the passenger repeatedly asked the cabin crew, “Are we in US air space?” Taiwan’s China Times newspaper’s website reported.
Those comments could not be immediately be verified, and Lee said she could not confirm whether the passenger had made those comments, either.
The incident has garnered widespread attention in Taiwan and even rose to the level of parliamentary debate.
Taiwan’s Transportation Minister Chen Chien-yu told a legislative session Monday his ministry would research details of the in-flight birth in case the mother has legal obligations.
“This is a selfish act,” ruling party legislator Luo Shu-lei shouted to the minister during the session. “It was clearly an act carried out to give the child US citizenship. She affected the travel of other passengers. Is there no punishment?”
A cottage industry has sprung up in recent years facilitating the travel of women from mainland China to the US for the purpose of giving birth and obtaining automatic American citizenship. In Taiwan, however, a strong domestic economy and excellent public welfare have made US citizenship less attractive.
The woman, whose identity has been kept confidential, was sent back Saturday from Alaska to Taiwan without the baby, but American authorities have not given a reason. State officials in Alaska say the baby is eligible for US citizenship.
* Associated Press
