None of the candidates in the March 22 election is a citizen of the US or Japan, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said yesterday afternoon.
"The commission has received a response from the American Institute in Taiwan stating that none of the candidates -- Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) or Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) -- appears to be a US citizen based on US citizen and immigration records," a CEC statement said.
Hsieh is the Democratic Progressive Party's presidential candidate and Su is his running mate while Ma and Siew represent the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
The commission was unable to check with the Japanese government because of laws that preclude such inquiries and also because the commission didn't provide Japanese household registration documents.
"Japanese naturalization regulations require [an applicant] renouncing his or her original citizenship before being granted Japanese citizenship," the statement said. "We confirmed with the Ministry of the Interior [in Taipei] that all four are Republic of China citizens and therefore cannot be Japanese citizens."
In late January, Hsieh's campaign accused Ma of holding a US green card, and later provided alleged details of his green card. Ma said he once held a green card but no longer does because it had expired. Hsieh insists that Ma's green card is still valid. Some politicians and commentators have speculated that Ma may even be a US citizen.
"With help from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we sent out inquiries on Feb. 25 ? to the US, Japan and the UK," the commission statement said.
Replies from Japan and the US came last Friday, CEC chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄) said during a question-and-answer session at the legislature's Home and Nations Committee, and the UK was to reply soon.
Approached for comment during a trip to Pingtung County, Ma said he had already clarified the issue: "I said on Jan. 28 that I do not hold citizenship of the US or any other foreign country."
However, the Hsieh camp said last night that the commission had only asked about Ma's citizenship status in the US, not his green card or permanent residency status. Hsieh spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) urged Ma to offer a clear account on whether he ever had US permanent residency, whether it was still valid or when exactly it was invalidated.
"The people have the right to know," Cheng said. "It is also a matter of honesty. Ma has offered different accounts since we raised the matter."
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih and Ko Shu-ling
Also see: Presidential election 2008: Hsieh pans KMT's China deals
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