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.
Two executives of drone supplier Jiin Ming Industry Co (錦明實業) have been detained and held incommunicado over the company's alleged use of prohibited China-made chips and camera lenses in drones supplied under recent military contracts, the Taoyuan District Prosecutors' Office said today. In a statement, prosecutors said they raided the offices of Jiin Ming — headquartered in Taoyuan — as well as those of its subsidiaries and its suppliers on Thursday last week. The raids followed a report that the company had breached its procurement contracts by putting the prohibited components into drones delivered to the military. During the raids, prosecutors summoned
South Korean boy band BigBang drew 120,000 fans to three concerts at Taipei Dome from Friday through yesterday, as the band thanked them for their support over their 20-year career. The Taipei Dome concerts were part of BigBang's "2026-2027 World Tour XX: Cosmos." Friday's concert was BigBang's first performance in Taiwan in 11 years. During the encore, group leader G-Dragon (GD) shouted "I love you" in Chinese and said he was especially happy to perform in Taiwan with bandmates Taeyang and Daesung. "Taipei, I'm very grateful to you all," GD said in Chinese, asking fans to wait for the band's return. Daesung thanked
The government would continue monitoring online rumors that a pneumonic plague outbreak has spread from Russia into China and could enhance existing quarantine measures, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said today. During a legislative meeting, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said rumors were circulating that the disease had spread across several Chinese provinces. He asked Cho whether the government was prepared to prevent the disease from spreading to Taiwan, given the frequent exchanges between Taiwan and China, and how concerned the government was about the alleged outbreak. The Ministry of Health and Welfare implemented border quarantine measures after briefing the Executive Yuan
DETAILED PLAN NEEDED: Relocating the airport would affect not just travelers, but also undermine national defense and emergency medical services, a legislator said Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday proposed relocating Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) and turning the site into an artificial intelligence (AI) park, drawing opposition from politicians across party lines. Chiang’s plan would turn the 300 hectares into an AI park featuring tech clusters, residential communities and green space. The industrial cluster would host 200 domestic enterprises, generate NT$12 trillion (US$376.47 billion) in output, and accommodate 65,000 jobs and 35,000 residents, he said. Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said the Executive Yuan was surprised by the announcement, as the Taipei City Government did not discuss the proposal with the central government before making
RSS