Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City caucus yesterday presented a proposal to the city council calling on Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) to investigate the nationality status of top-level officials to find out if any of them hold dual citizenship.
The caucus presented the proposal after the recent controversy surrounding Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Diane Lee (李慶安), a former Taipei city councilor, who is accused of possessing dual citizenship.
Although Lee said she had long given up her US citizenship, she declined to specify when and how, leaving doubt as to whether she, during her decades in public office, had violated Article 20 of the Nationality Law (國籍法), which stipulates that foreign citizens are prohibited from holding government posts.
PHOTO: CNA
DPP Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) and Wu Su-yao (吳思瑤) condemned Lee for lying to Taipei residents and suggested that the city council demand Lee return her salary from her terms as city councilor.
“Obtaining dual nationalities is a serious matter, and we should not tolerate officials in the nation’s capital city taking our residents’ money while possessing citizenship from another country,” Hsu said yesterday before Hau presented his municipal report before the Taipei City Council.
In response to the DPP caucus’ request that the city government check top-level officials’ backgrounds, Hau said he had given up his US green card after returning to Taiwan, and promised to follow the law in dealing with the issue of city government officials’ nationality.
The caucus also urged the city government to mark March 10 as “Tibet Day” to commemorate the bloody crackdown on Tibetan protesters by the Chinese government.
Hsu and other caucus members said that as the nation’s capital city, Taipei should follow the example of other nations and make the day a national holiday to show the city’s respect for human rights and freedom.
Some KMT city councilors, however, opposed the proposal.
Taipei City Council Speaker Wu Bi-chu (吳碧珠) announced that discussion of the proposal would be postponed.
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