Lawmaker Chang gets his wish

KMT Legislator John Chang (章孝嚴) is expected to hold a press conference today to announce that he will soon be officially recognized as the late president Chiang Ching-kuo's (蔣經國) son and will be granted a new national identity card next week.

The Population Administration Department of the Taipei City Government yesterday confirmed that Chang's application for listing his birth parents' names, Chiang and Chang Ya-juo (章亞若), has been approved by the Ministry of the Interior, making him eligible to apply for a new ID card.

"After reviewing the documents offered by Chang and General Wang Sheng (王昇), the ministry approved his application," said an anonymous Taipei City Government official.

"Based on his application, Legislator Chang will amend his ID to list Chiang and Chang Ya-juo as his birth parents, but he won't assume the surname Chiang," the official said.

John Chang applied for the amendment to his ID to show that he is the illegitimate son of the late president last year.

Chang's uncle, Chang Hau-juo (章浩若), and his aunt, Chi Chen (紀琛), are currently listed as his parents on his ID card.

The ministry said in July that Chang would have to undergo a two-stage legal process, first proving that his "official parents" are not his biological parents, and second, demonstrating that Chiang and his mistress, Chang Ya-juo, were indeed his biological parents.

To prove who his biological parents were, the legislator would have to provide a birth certificate, undergo DNA tests or find a witness, the ministry said. Both couples, however, are dead.

In July, Chang produced a birth certificate issued by the hospital in which he was born in China, which he said proves Chang Ya-juo was his biological mother.

Wang, a close aide to Chiang who was asked to take care of the legislator and his brother when they were children, submitted documents including notes from Chiang to the ministry.

The ministry accepted Wang's documents as evidence to prove that Chang's father is the late president, according to the Taipei City Government official.

Chang first revealed the ministry's approval during a speech to the European Chamber of Commerce Taipei on Tuesday.