From the Hills Shire Times
CHILDHOOD sweethearts Gang Yuan and Liyun Deng are together again after 63 years but the happy event has been clouded by the battle to have their marriage recognised.
Mr Yuan, 85, of Castle Hill, married Mrs Deng, 85, in China in October 1946.
The couple met when 10-year-old Mrs Deng stayed with the Yuan family in the Gaosha District in Dongkuo City in Hunan in 1934.
When Mr Yuan was studying at the Huangpu Military School and Mrs Deng was studying at Wugang Teacher’s College they started to write to each other.
The army granted him 10 days’ leave to marry and spend time with his new wife and it was the only time they spent as a couple.
After Mr Yuan returned to his unit the communists swept to power, defeating the National Party (Kuomintang) which retreated to Taiwan and all contact was lost.
Mr Yuan’s young wife heard nothing further about her husband and thought he had died.
She graduated and a fellow teacher who had been at her wedding asked her to marry him.
She married again in October 1952 and her second husband has since died.
Finally reunited on December 21, they spent their first Christmas and New Year together while Mr Yuan’s niece Donna Ferraro launched the bid to have the marriage recognised.
Ms Ferraro said the family hoped Mrs Deng would be allowed to migrate here as Mr Yuan’s wife and create the happy ending that had eluded them for 63 years.
But Mrs Deng was granted a visitor’s visa and their marital status is waiting to be validated by Chinese and Australian authorities.
In an email to Ms Ferraro, Joe Feld, the principal migration officer from the immigration section of the Australian Consulate General in Guangzhou, said: “You should be aware that recognition of the marriage between the couple does not automatically entitle Liyun to an Australian partner visa.
“The key test in this application is whether they meet the definition of spouse according to Section 5F of the Migration Act 1956.
“There is concern that the couple may not be able to meet these criteria as they have only spent two weeks together as a couple in 1946 and have not met in person since then. Furthermore, Liyun spent 56 of those years married to another person.”
Ms Ferraro described the battle to help her uncle as a “rollercoaster” ride helped by many community members.
“There are lots of people who helped us make my uncle and aunt finally unite,” Ms Ferraro said.
“We can only wait on the authorities to make a decision.”
Ms Ferraro said Mrs Deng was having difficulty adjusting to life in Australia after living in a little town in China for 85 years.
“She never flew in an airplane until last month,” Ms Ferraro said. “She has travelled in a car only a few times before.
“Of course, they are very happy to see each other. They have spent their very first Christmas and New Year together.”