Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and his running mate, Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), yesterday authorized the Central Election Commission (CEC) to investigate whether they have foreign nationality, and urged Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to follow suit.
Hsieh said it could lead to trouble if Ma were to win the presidential election and was then found to have foreign nationality. The DPP candidate said he would happily concede defeat if Ma's green card status was clarified prior to the election and he went on to win.
"Ma seems determined to make things difficult for the CEC," Hsieh said. "He must have thought the issue would go away if he continued to ignore the CEC's attempts to probe the matter."
PHOTO: CNA
Hsieh has accused Ma of holding a green card since 1977, while Ma has said his green card was invalidated in 1985. The CEC has requested the two sets of candidates to provide information regarding their green card status.
Signing a letter of consent authorizing the CEC to investigate his status, Hsieh said he did not hold foreign nationality or permanent residency in any other country because the Election and Recall Law of Civil Servants (公職人員選舉罷免法) states that presidential and vice presidential candidates may not do so.
The Nationality Law (
baffled
Describing Ma as an "opportunist," Hsieh said it baffled him that Ma had complicated a simple matter. Ma only needed to publicly declare his green card number, when it became invalid and whether the green card number had become his naturalization number, Hsieh said.
Hsieh said the accusation from the Ma camp that the CEC had sided with the Hsieh camp to persecute Ma was an overt attempt to sabotage the credibility of an independent body.
He urged Ma to refrain from exploiting legal loopholes and to abide by the law, which was enacted by the legislature while the KMT was in the majority.
criticism
Meanwhile, the Youth Department of Hsieh's camp criticized Ma for declining an invitation from university students to attend a public debate in Hsinchu on Feb. 22.
Freddy Lim (林昶佐), chief executive director of the department and frontman for dark metal band Chthonic (閃靈樂團), said he was disappointed when Ma's spokesman said Ma had decided to skip the event.
Hsieh campaign spokesman Hsu Kuo-yong (
Meanwhile, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) spokesman Thomas Hodges said yesterday that the AIT would consider providing information to the CEC on the citizenship or permanent legal resident status of presidential candidates.
However, he said the CEC had not contacted the AIT.
Hodges reiterated comments by AIT Director Stephen Young and senior US State Department officials that Washington had no favorite in the presidential election.
"We will respond to inquiries of this nature in whatever manner best maintains our neutrality in this election," he said.
The CEC said on Saturday it would request help from foreign diplomatic missions to ascertain if either of the two presidential candidates has foreign citizenship.
The CEC said it would wait until both candidates had given their authorization for the committee to launch an investigation before enlisting the AIT's help.
Additional reporting by Jenny W. Hsu
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS