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Presidential election: Ma provides CEC with passport data

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) signed a letter of consent yesterday authorizing the Central Election Commission (CEC) to investigate his US green card status, but he condemned the commission for cooperating with the government in an attack on his nationality.

"Although feeling wronged, Mr. Ma has already cooperated with the commission's request and filled out a letter of authorization," Ma spokesman Luo Chih-chiang (羅智強) told a press conference yesterday afternoon.

The camp presented some of the information Ma provided the CEC, including his birthdate, Republic of China (ROC) ID number, passport number, his English name on the passport and permanent address, and his latest US visa to prove that Ma's green card is no longer valid.

"Although the commission has cooperated with Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), we are willing to provide the required information," Luo said.

"We demand Hsieh's camp now present solid proof if it continues to accuse Ma of holding a valid green card," he said.

Hsieh has accused Ma of holding a green card since January 1977.

The commission announced earlier this week that it would investigate the allegation.

Ma has admitted applying for and receiving permanent US residency while studying in the US in the 1970s, but says his green card was invalidated 20 years ago when he began applying for visitor's visas for his trips to the US.

Ma's campaign staff showed copies of visas from an ROC passport issued to Ma 18 years ago to prove that the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) had issued a non-immigrant visa to Ma on June 29, 1990 and on four other occasions before 2006.

Luo presented Ma's latest non-immigrant visa, issued by AIT on May 19, 2006.

The records provide solid proof that Ma's green card had been invalidated years ago in accordance with US immigration laws, Luo said.

In response to Hsieh's claim that Ma had used the name "Mark Ma" for his green card, Ma spokesman Tsai Shih-pin (蔡詩萍) said the KMT candidate had used the name "Mark" for a short time while in college, but had not used the name afterwards.

Hsieh's camp called a press conference later in the afternoon to complain that Ma's team was still dodging crucial questions by failing to prove that Ma's green card was invalid and the date that it had become invalid.

A Hsieh spokesman, Hsu Kuo-yong (徐國勇), said there are two ways for a green card holder to give up the card -- by filing an I-470 form or if a US immigration court invalidates the card.

Applying for a non-immigrant visa doesn't necessarily mean that a green card holder's card becomes invalidated, he said.

Hsu said Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), a KMT member, had given up his green card by filing a I-407 form.

When asked later by reporters, Chou said he filed the form at the AIT 18 years ago to give up his green card, but that it was fine for Ma to give up his green card passively.

Earlier yesterday on the legislative floor, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) said the CEC should investigate whether the two presidential candidates hold US green cards because it was a question of loyalty to the nation and not one of individual privacy.

"Presidential candidates cannot be held to the same standards as ordinary people. Higher legal requirements should apply," Chang said during a question-and-answer session with DPP Legislator Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲).

Twu had initially asked CEC Chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄) whether it was legal for the president to have once held foreign citizenship or permanent residency.

The President and Vice President Election and Recall Law (總統副總統選舉罷免法) states that anyone holding foreign citizenship is ineligible to run for president.

The Civil Servant Work Act (公務人員服務法) authorizes investigations of government officials who are involved in matters of national security or major national interests to determine if they have ever held foreign citizenship or residency, Twu said.

The legislator then asked the CEC chief if that law also applied to the president.

Although a president is involved in issues of national security and major national interest, under the the President and Vice President Election and Recall Law, the CEC can only investigate if a presidential candidate currently holds dual nationality, not if they had dual nationality or foreign residency in the past, Chang Cheng-hsiung said. But he said that once a candidate is elected, he or she is then covered by the Civil Servant Work Act.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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