How true is this?

C

claifox

Registered User
Long story short, I was told by a government official today that if you are born in Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan, you are given a Chinese name. I tried to find more info on this online, but couldn't, so thought I'd post my question here on Geobaby: Is this true? Does that mean we're supposed to give our baby a Chinese name at birth? Or does this only apply to certain nationalities or if both the parents were also born in HK, Macau, or Taiwan? How does this work? If anyone knows, let me know. Thank you.
 
I was born in Taiwan, but raised my entire life in the US. I don't have anything with a Chinese name in the US. I don't use one, nor do my parents use one with me. I can't read or write in Chinese, much less speak in Mandarin. Yes, you can call me completely westernized! The reason why this all came up is because I applied for a China travel visa yesterday and was told I needed to have a Chinese name on my application because I was born in Taiwan, even though I hold a US passport. I've been approved for a China travel visa twice before. Each and every time they have always hassled me about this problem, but ultimately dropped the issue. But this time, the lady behind the counter INSISTED that everyone born in China, Macau, or Hong Kong has a Chinese name. I thought this was ridiculous, as we plan to have our baby here in HK and do not plan to give our baby a Chinese name, as I am sure many people out there do not give their HK-born babies Chinese names, especially those not of Chinese descent!!
 
Just tell the lady you were not born in HK, China nor Macau, as "the lady behind the counter INSISTED that everyone born in China, Macau, or Hong Kong (only) has a Chinese name.". You were born in Taiwan, right? In any case, you are not required to have a Chinese name even if you are born and bred in HK, and is 100% Chinese.
 
Oops, sorry, I meant to type in that the lady insisted that everyone includes China, Macau, Hong Kong, AND Taiwan (My pregnant scatter brain fails me sometimes!). Anyway, I got the visa approved regardless, but had still just wondered about the Chinese naming issue.
 
As the others have said I think it's completely optional. Infact, none of my friends who've given birth here have them.

HTH, Katy
 
When you get any government paper work done, you are automatically given a Chinese name. I imagine its because all paperwork is done in Chinese. So if you have picked a Chinese name for your child you can write that down or just let them pick a similar sounding name for you. It makes no difference to you actually. If you have a HKID card, you already have a Chinese name.
 
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