US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI1052

UNCLAS TAIPEI 001052 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS AIT/W 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, ECON, ELAB, SCUL, SOCI, KWMN, TW 
SUBJECT: UNDERAGE MARRIAGE IN TAIWAN 
 
REF: SECSTATE 36341 
 
1. (U) Following is AIT Taipei/Kaoshiung's preliminary report 
on child marriage in Taiwan.  The report is according to 
reftel sections, beginning with A.  In accordance with the 
USG's one-China policy, the use of the word country in 
reference to Taiwan is not used in this report. 
 
A) (U) What is the legal age of marriage in your country?  Is 
it the same for girls and boys?  Is there a low legal age for 
marriage with parental consent? 
 
Article 980 of Taiwan's Civil Code states that males must be 
at least 18 years old and females at least 16 years old to 
sanction a legal marriage.  In Taiwan, a minor is defined as 
a person under the age of 20.  Article 981 states that a 
minor must have the consent of his or her parents or legal 
guardians to marry. 
 
B) (U) To what extent is underage marriage (i.e., lower than 
your host country's legal age) a significant problem, either 
among the population at large or within one of the minority 
groups?  To what extent does underage marriage have adverse 
affects on the well being of the child? 
 
According to the Ministry of the Interior (MOI), underage 
marriage is not a significant problem in Taiwan.  The average 
age of marriage in Taiwan is 33 for men and 27 for women. 
According to MOI statistics at the end 2004, only 2 males (of 
2,288,831) under the age of 15 were married while 10 (of 
2,098,251) females under the age of 15 were married.  The 
number of married persons aged 15-19 is .03 percent of the 
total population, a number comparable to levels in the U.S. 
 
C) (U) Are there currently any U.S. funded initiatives in 
your host country that aim to reduce the incidence or address 
the negative effects of child marriage?  If so, how effective 
are these programs?  If not, what kinds of programs may be 
needed?  Are there other existing programs that could also 
address child marriage? 
 
There are no U.S. funded initiatives to address child 
marriage in Taiwan.  Underage marriage is not considered a 
significant problem and Taiwan has been cited as a success 
story in eliminating underage marriage by the Global Health 
Organization and the International Center for Research on 
Women. 
PAAL