Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) yesterday dismissed media speculation that his proposed amendment targeting government officials over foreign residency could put President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in an uncomfortable position.
“Ma’s US green card has been invalidated. He does not have either a green card or dual citizenship,” Wu told reporters. “The proposed amendment has nothing to do with Ma.”
Despite objections from the Ministry of the Interior, the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee on Monday completed a preliminary review of a proposed amendment to the Nationality Act (國籍法), barring anyone with permanent residency status in another country from holding public office.
“Barring officials from holding foreign residency has symbolic implications on his or her loyalty to this country. [The amendment] is a way to enhance public trust in the government,” said Wu, who presided over Monday’s meeting.
The current version of the Nationality Act only prohibits people with citizenship in another country from serving in office.
The proposed amendment, however, prompted concerns within political circles, as Ma would be required to present documents proving the loss of his green card if the amendment cleared the legislature.
During the presidential campaign last year, Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) alleged that Ma still possessed a green card.
Ma said his green card, which he obtained in the 1970s, was automatically invalidated when he applied for a US visa in 1985.
He has never made the Abandonment of Alien Status as a Lawful Permanent Resident form (I-407), or any other evidence, public.
KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said every government official should abide by the amendment if it was adopted.
“Even the president must follow the law,” Lo said.
KMT Legislator Chen Hsiu-ching (陳秀卿) opposed the proposal, however, saying the ban could discourage overseas talent from serving in government.
During a question-and-answer session with Chen, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said he was in favor of barring political appointees and senior Cabinet officials from holding residency in another country, but said he had reservations as to whether the restriction should apply to ordinary public officials.
Minister of the Interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) said the ministry had not probed the foreign residency status of all public officials.
He said a study of the impact of the proposed amendment would have to be prepared before the second and third readings of the bill.
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
DIPLOMACY: It is Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo’s first visit to Taiwan since he took office last year, while Eswatini’s foreign minister is also paying a visit A delegation led by Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo arrived in Taiwan yesterday afternoon and is to visit President William Lai (賴清德) today. The delegation arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 4:55pm, and was greeted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). It is Arevalo’s first trip to Taiwan since he took office last year, and following the visit, he is to travel to Japan to celebrate the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Arevalo said at the airport that he is very glad to make the visit to Taiwan, adding that he brings an important message of responsibility
About 3,000 people gathered at events in Taipei yesterday for an annual candlelight vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, a brutal crackdown by Chinese authorities on a student-led demonstration in Beijing on June 4 36 years ago. A candlelight vigil organized by the New School for Democracy and other human rights groups began at 7pm on Democracy Boulevard outside Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, with the theme "Resist Transnational Repression, Defy Totalitarianism." At about 8pm, organizers announced that about 3,000 people had attended the event, which featured brief speeches by human rights advocates from Taiwan and China, including Hong Kong, as well
RSS