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.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it