Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors yesterday proposed an investigation to determine whether Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) or any other city officials and councilors possess dual citizenship to prevent a repeat of the incident involving former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Diane Lee (李慶安), who was a US citizen while she served in elected office.
Lee was found guilty last year on counts of fraud and forgery for failing to renounce her US citizenship, before serving as a Taipei City councilor and later a legislator.
The incident damaged the city council’s reputation, the DPP councilors said, adding that city officials and councilors should agree to an investigation within three months into whether any of them possess dual citizenship or foreign residency.
“Dual citizenship is a challenge to one’s national identity. City councilors and elected officials should take the initiative to clarify the issue and try to make an investigation [into dual citizenship] a requirement in the future,” Taipei City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏), of the DPP, said yesterday.
Taipei City Councilor Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄), also of the DPP, said a recent controversy surrounding Council of Grand Justices nominee Chen Be-yue (陳碧玉), who held a US green card for 18 months while serving on the Supreme Court, was another factor prompting the DPP city caucus -proposal to launch an investigation.
Hau said his green card has been invalid for some years, but declined to sign an agreement to the proposed investigation.
The Department of Personnel said the city government required all elected officials to sign a statement promising that they do not have dual citizenship before taking office.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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