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Presidential election 2008: 14 days to go: Hsieh camp wants clarification on Ma's place of birth

Members of Democratic Progress-ive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) camp yesterday demanded that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) clarify whether he was born in Guangdong Province's Shenzhen or Hong Kong.

"How is it possible for a person seeking the presidency to have alternate versions of his birthplace?" Hsieh spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) asked a news conference.

In an article published in a defunct magazine, Cheng alleged, Ma said he was born in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, in 1950. This story was corroborated by other documents, Cheng said.

The spokesman also claimed that Ma had said during a visit to Hong Kong that he wanted to go to Kowloon Hospital to look for his birth certificate.

"Ma said at that time that he was born at the British-owned Kowloon Hospital, and that's why he was named `Ying-jeou,'" Cheng said.

Ma should give a clear account of his birthplace if he has nothing to hide, the spokesman said.

Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興), a DPP member, on Thursday alleged that Ma has a British passport because he was born in Hong Kong. Ma obtained a US passport thereafter, Yang said. He provided no evidence to support his allegations.

Cheng said yesterday that Yang had based his allegations on media reports.

When asked to comment on Yang's comments, Ma spokesman Luo Chih-chiang (羅智強) yesterday urged Hsieh's campaign team to produce evidence.

"They have accused him of being a US citizen and now they say he is a British citizen. We wouldn't be surprised if, next time, they said Ma Ying-jeou comes from Mars," Luo said, adding that a defamation lawsuit was a possibility.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
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