Hsieh questions Ma's statements on green cards

"We have given them up. We don't have them now. I am telling the truth. My [earlier] responses were not different. What I said yesterday was that we used to hold green cards, but we gave them up. This does not contradict what I said the previous day."

Ma Ying-jeou, KMT presidential candidate

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday cast doubt on Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) comments on his green card, asking Ma to "tell the whole truth" within two days.

"I praise Ma for telling part of the truth [Monday night], but he didn't tell the whole truth. Honesty is the best policy. Ma has two days to add or make corrections. I will sort out the information I have and go public in two days," Hsieh said.

On Monday, Hsieh said he had documents proving that Ma still has a green card. Yesterday he said Ma's wife Chow Mei-ching (周美青) was also a green card holder.

"Two out of Ma's four family members are green card holders and [Ma's eldest daughter] is a US citizen. They can emigrate to the US any time. If a nation's leader and his family get themselves life jackets, how can he say he is closely bound to the fate of Taiwan?" Hsieh said.

Ma called an emergency press conference on Monday night to respond to questions Hsieh raised on Sunday. He said he had obtained a green card while he was living in the US, sometime around 1977.

But Ma said both his and his wife's green cards became invalid in the 1980s when they applied for visas at the American Institute in Taiwan to travel to the US.

Hsieh, however, said yesterday afternoon that he knew the number of Ma's green card.

"Ma has admitted he was once a US green card holder. I have no doubt about that. Now the problem is that Ma has to prove he revoked the card as he has said. Please tell the public when you gave up the card, how and where," Hsieh said.

He refused to comment on Ma's remark that the green cards were automatically invalidated when the couple applied for US visas.

"Ma has to show us which law and regulation his argument was based on," Hsieh said.

In response to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng's (王金平) comment that economic issues were more important, Hsieh said, "When a presidential candidate lies about something, he may also make empty promises when speaking about the economy."

At a press conference in Changhua Country last night, Ma dared Hsieh to present the evidence he said could prove that Ma had not told the truth over the green card issue.

"No matter what information you have, please present it to the public now. You don't need to wait two days before showing it," Ma said.

"Please present the evidence now and I will respond. I have responded to Mr Hsieh's allegations sincerely and clearly over the past two days," he said.

At the same press conference, Ma camp spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) raised questions about Hsieh's wife Yu Fang-chih (游芳枝), urging Hsieh to explain why Yu is known as "Putaichih (布袋枝, meaning Yu always carries a gunny sack with her) in southern Taiwan.

"Can you publicly guarantee that none of your family members have ever engaged in any under-the-table political deals, including the receipt of political donations?" Lo said.

Earlier yesterday, Ma said that his responses on the issue had been consistent.

Ma said he gave a negative answer on Sunday because he was responding to a question on whether he and his family currently held green cards.

"We have given them up. We don't have them now. I am telling the truth. My [earlier] responses were not different," he said when approached in Tainan. "What I said yesterday [Monday night] was that we used to hold green cards, but we gave them up. This does not contradict what I said the previous day."

Ma said based on his understanding, green cards become invalid if the cardholder enters the US on a visa.

"As long as you don't want to use it, [the US] would assume that you want to give it up. Since green cards represent an official document granting holders permission to enter the US without a visa, if you decide to apply for a US visa, this means you don't want to use the green card anymore," he said, adding that cardholders are not obliged to issue any formal proclamation giving up the cards.

When asked if having a green card indicated disloyalty to Taiwan, Ma said he and his wife applied for the cards because they needed student loans and job opportunities to support themselves when he was studying for his doctorate.

"We followed the procedure stipulated in US laws to apply for green cards. I don't remember the exact time, but it [the application] took a few years," he said, adding that it was the US Citizenship and Immigration Services that determined whether to issue them green cards.

According to the US Department of Homeland Security, a green card holder may lose his or her permanent residence status if the person commits an act that makes him or her removable from the US under the law in section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. A person may be brought before the immigration courts to determine his or her right to remain a permanent resident.

A person may be found to have abandoned his or her permanent resident status after moving to another country to live permanently; remaining outside of the US for more than one year without obtaining a re-entry permit or returning resident visa; remaining outside of the US for more than two years after issuance of a re-entry permit without obtaining a returning resident visa; failing to file income tax returns while living outside of the US for any period; or declaring themselves a "non-immigrant" on their US tax returns.

Ma said it was "unnecessary" for him to tell others what cards he holds since "this was something I gave up 20 years ago."

When asked if he felt that he had fallen into Hsieh's "trap," Ma said he understands that presidential candidates are subject to public scrutiny.

When asked if his daughter Lesley Ma (馬唯中) would also give up her US citizenship, he said that he would respect his daughter's decision because she is an adult.

Outgoing KMT Legislator Joanna Lei (雷倩), who has also studied and worked in the US, said it used to be "normal" for Taiwanese students to apply for green cards in the US in order to work legally to support themselves while studying.

KMT spokeswoman Chen Shu-rong (陳淑容) told reporters that Ma applied for the card for the sake of "convenience," adding that the application had nothing to do with loyalty to the nation.

Wu Ching-chi (吳清基), a Ma aide, told reporters that it was "meaningless" for Hsieh to attack Ma over the issue of his green card.

"[Former Academia Sinica president] Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), [former secretary-general of the Presidential Office] Mark Chen (陳唐山) and [Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission Chairwoman] Chang Fu-mei's (張富美) husband all studied in the US. They later gave up their green cards, but has anyone ever questioned their honesty?" Wu asked.

Additional reporting by Jenny W. Hsu