Like signatures written in English or other Romanised languages, Chinese signatures may be legible, where each character resemble the person’s normal handwriting, or they may be highly stylised, where the Chinese characters are abbreviated to the extent that the signatures appear illegible.
Similar to the verification of the authorship of an English or Romanised questioned signature, genuine specimen signatures are required for comparison with a questioned Chinese signature. As a general guide, at least 10 genuine specimen signatures are required for comparison against a questioned Chinese signature. More specimen signatures may be required depending on the natural variation exhibited in the person’s signatures, or if there is more than one questioned signature. Possible sources of specimen signatures include passports, credit cards, children’s report books, application forms, agreements, bank documents and business documents.
The specimen signatures provided, or at least some of them, should be contemporaneous (i.e. signed around the same period) and comparable with the questioned signatures.
In cases where there are few specimen signatures available for comparison with questioned Chinese signatures, and the characters resemble the person’s normal handwriting, it is possible to supplement the limited specimen signatures with his or her handwriting containing the same Chinese characters, or other Chinese characters containing the same components. However, the Chinese characters in the questioned signatures and specimen handwriting must be written in the same style e.g. discrete, regularly written characters should be compared with similarly written characters, and not with those written in cursive.
HOW WE CAN HELP YOU
As mentioned, even if you do not have sufficient specimen signatures, our experts may still be able to assist you if there are Chinese handwriting samples available for comparison with the questioned signatures. Our experts are fluent and proficient in reading and writing Chinese and have years of experience working on cases involving Chinese handwriting and signatures. Besides our local imprint, we have conducted forensic examinations and provided expert testimonies for cases in Asia and beyond. Do not hesitate to consult our forensic experts if you require the examination of Chinese signatures on any document.
Read more about Chinese handwriting and signatures.
To find out how our experts may be of assistance to you, call us at 6459 0494 or email us at enquiries@forensicexperts.com.sg