The Presidential Office yesterday displayed a letter from the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) that it said proved President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) voided his status as a permanent US resident by renouncing his “green card,” but critics pointed out that the statement was inconsistent with Ma’s previous claims that since his green card had “expired, it was invalidated automatically.”
Presidential Office spokesperson Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏) called a news conference yesterday to show the letter from Joseph Donovan, managing director of the AIT’s Washington office, addressed to Taiwanese Representative to the US Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) and dated May 14.
“We have previously been informed that President Ma Ying-jeou’s abandonment of his former legal permanent resident status has long been included in appropriate US immigration system records. This issue is therefore closed,” the letter said.
Photo: CNA
Lee said the letter showed that the president lost his permanent US residency a long time ago “and this is the only truth.”
Lee expressed appreciation to Washington for “speedily clearing up [the allegation]” made by Next Magazine on Wednesday that Ma is subject to the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and must pay taxes to the US government.
Lee said Shen was instructed by the government to negotiate with Washington to address the “fabrications” the magazine made “with malicious intent.”
The green card issue has haunted Ma since the 2008 presidential election and has seen him widely criticized for failing to show that he filed an Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status application, or Form I-407, to prove his claims that the resident status he obtained while studying in the US in 1977 was no longer valid.
In the past, Ma and his staff have said that the president’s green card became invalid a long time ago because he used a non-immigrant visa when he entered the US and has since then used a non-immigrant visa when he visits the country.
The Presidential Office yesterday again failed to present the form proving that Ma has, as required by US law, renounced his status in writing to US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).
Speaking to the Taipei Times later yesterday, AIT spokesperson Mark Zimmer said it was the Taiwanese government’s decision to share the letter, not the US’.
Zimmer said he was unaware as to when Washington was informed that Ma had abandoned his permanent resident status.
Next Magazine reported that the US Internal Revenue Service’s Beijing office told the publication that green card holders have permanent residency status and are therefore required to pay US taxes on worldwide income except in the following cases: if they voluntarily renounce their status in writing to the USCIS; if the green card holder’s immigrant status is administratively terminated by the USCIS; or if the individual’s immigrant status is judicially terminated by a US federal court.
Separately yesterday, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that while the Presidential Office was trying to quell the controversy with the letter, Ma’s integrity was the key issue in the dispute.
“While the document released by the Presidential Office today showed that Ma has lost his residency status in the US, many questions remain unanswered,” DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said.
Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who broke the residency story while campaigning as the DPP’s candidate in the 2008 presidential election, said the letter seems to hint that Ma took action to abandon his residency status after March 2008, which would mean he lied in the campaign when he said his green card was automatically voided.
“I call on Ma to clarify when he renounced his residency. Taiwanese have the right to know,” he added.
Additional reporting by Chris Wang
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
RSS