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Presidential election 2008: 4 days to go: Hsieh reveals new pledge over Ma's green card

"I will quit politics for good and resign from my position as legislator if I have fabricated or altered anything in the statement."

Chai Trong-rong, DPP legislator

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday said that he would drop out of the presidential race if his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) could prove that his US permanent residency was invalid.

Ma claimed on Jan. 28 that he and his wife could not find their passports dating back to 1990, Hsieh said, but that was nearly two months ago and he should have found them by now.

"It is a serious matter," Hsieh said. "Ma must face the Taiwanese public with honesty and show them respect," he said.

Hsieh has accused Ma of holding a green card since 1977, while Ma has said his green card was automatically invalidated in 1985 when he applied for a visa to travel to the US. Ma, however, has never provided any evidence to substantiate his claim.

Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) yesterday claimed that "reliable sources" in the US had confirmed that Ma's green card was still valid and that his alien residence certificate (ARC) was still active.

"I will quit politics for good and resign from my position as legislator if I have fabricated or altered anything in the statement," he said.

Showing what he called an English paragraph obtained from a letter written by a "reliable source" in the US, Chai said he went to the US on a private trip between March 9 and Saturday to investigate the matter. The source told him in writing that Ma is a permanent resident of the US.

"It has been confirmed through US immigration sources that the subject has an active Alien Registration number and is confirmed to be a permanent legal resident of the United States," the statement said.

Chai declined to reveal the identity of the source, but said the person knows somebody in US immigration.

While Ma's campaign has threatened to take legal action, Chai yesterday said that he welcomed any lawsuit as he was confident he would be vindicated. His sources could testify in court if necessary, he said.

Chai said that he had obtained US permanent residency in 1973, but never applied for a green card during the 30 years he spent in the US. He relinquished his US permanent residency status in September 1992 when he returned to Taiwan, he said.

There are two ways to renounce US permanent residency, Chai said, either by filing an I-407 form or having it annulled by an immigration court.

Chai said Ma's argument that his green card was automatically invalidated when he applied for a visa to travel to the US did not make sense. When Chai returned for a short visit to the US in 1990, he was a US permanent resident and had a Republic of China passport, he said.

Hsieh spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) expressed the same opinion, citing the example of "Professor Lin."

"He obtained a US green card in 1967, but he entered the US with a visa in 1998 and 2004," he said.

When approached for comment, Ma laughed off Chai's accusation, saying that the allegation was not worth responding to.

"US visas are roughly divided into two kinds: immigrant and non-immigrant visas, with the green card equal to an immigrant visa and the B1/B2 visitor's visa or F1 student's visa being non-immigrant visas," he said.

"These two kinds of visas are mutually exclusive. If it [the US government] issues you with a non-immigrant visa, this means you have given up or invalidated your immigrant's visa. Anyone who understands US immigration regulations knows this," he said.

Ma urged Chai not to use Ma as an "excuse" if Chai made the allegation simply because he was considering withdrawing from the political scene, adding that anyone who understands US immigration regulations could tell immediately whether Chai's "evidence" was fake or not.

Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文) issued a press release accusing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of funding Chai's trip to the US.

Cheng said the ministry had confirmed to her that it covered the cost of Chai's ticket and accommodation in full.

The ministry said Chai applied for the funding early this month on the grounds that he wanted to express gratitude to US congressmen for the approval of a resolution by the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs on supporting Taiwan's upcoming presidential election, Cheng said.

Cheng questioned the "real motive" of Chai's trip and criticized the ministry over the subsidy for violating administrative impartiality.
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