Taiwan and larger than Belgium. The island of Taiwan has an area of , and lies some from the southeastern coast of mainland China across the Taiwan Strait. The East China Sea lies to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait directly to the south, and the South China Sea to the southwest. Its shape is similar to a sweet potato, giving rise to the slang term "hanji" ("sweet potato" in Hokkien) used by Taiwanese Hokkien speakers to refer to people of native Taiwanese descent. The island is characterized by the contrast between
Nationality law of the People's Republic of China restrictions as long as they arrive from a third country. In accordance with the "Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area" of the ROC, any ROC national with Household Registration (ROC nationals with full citizenship rights in Taiwan) who obtains a passport issued to Mainland residents of the PRC or hukou of Mainland China, automatically loses his Household Registration in Taiwan, which in turn causes the loss of the person's citizenship rights in the ROC (since he or she has already obtained the "de facto" citizenship of Mainland China). However, the person does