Chinese National Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
Earlier yesterday, Ma had publicly denied having a green card, saying that "no members of his family possessed one."
In the declaration yesterday evening Ma said because his eldest daughter, Lesley Ma (
"However no other members of my family possess a US passport, not myself, my wife, or my youngest daughter, nor have we applied for one," he said.
Ma did admit that during his stay in the US he applied and obtained a green card, around 1977, in order to get student loans and employment after graduation.
He said that he ceased using his green card in the late 1980s and had applied for visas via the American Institute in Taiwan when traveling to the US, which "by American law, would be seen as giving up the green card."
"Both my wife's and my green card became invalid this way; my younger daughter, on the other hand, has never had a green card," he said. "Since both myself and my wife have given up our green cards for more than 20 years, when I was asked about it yesterday, I naturally said that I did not have a green card."
Earlier in the day, when he was approached for comment in Tainan, Ma said: "I've already answered the question and today's newspapers also ran stories with my response. No one in my family has a green card."
Ma then urged Hsieh to respond to a question he asked on Sept. 29 regarding why Hsieh could not urge the government to immediately allow direct cross-strait transportation and investment from China.
Ma said he always responded to Hsieh's questions quickly, while Hsieh failed to reciprocate.
Earlier yesterday Hsieh had raised the green card issue again.
"[Whether you have a green card] is such a simple question. Why can't Ma answer the question in person? If Ma lied about this, he should drop out of the election," Hsieh said.
Hsieh raised the same question on Sunday as he registered his candidacy, but it was Wang Yu-chi (
At a press conference held to declare his clean politics election platform, Hsieh persisted in questioning Ma, saying he would pursue the issue until Ma had provided a response.
"I didn't question Ma about the green card for no reason. Maybe he has spent the past two days trying to find a way with his lawyers to have the card revoked," Hsieh said.
"Ma keeps saying he is closely bound to the fate of Taiwan. If a presidential candidate holds a US green card or is able to apply for dependent status, it would be just like wearing a life jacket. His pledge was merely pretense," Hsieh said.
Later yesterday, after Ma had rebutted the allegations, Hsieh asked Ma to specify the date since when Ma and his family members had not had US green cards.
"Did Ma mean that he never owned a green card, doesn't have a green card now, or that his green card has been revoked?" Hsieh said.
Hsieh said his campaign office had obtained information from different informants and would make it public once it had been verified, adding that some of the information provided "quite detailed information," including the card numbers.
Meanwhile, Hsieh vowed to set up an independent government agency, modeled on Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption if elected.
Hsieh said he would also push for the passage of a series of "Sunshine laws" to create a clean political climate and advocate judicial reform.
Additional reporting by staff writer
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard