Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) yesterday said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should explain why it had nominated a “US citizen” as a legislative candidate.
Chang Kuo-hsin (張國鑫), a DPP legislative candidate for the first district in Nantou County, has lived in the US for 27 years and “is an American without doubt,” Wu said at a press conference in the legislature.
Wu said Chang did not heed the DPP’s advice to relinquish his US citizenship before nomination and instead said he would only do so when he is elected.
The Nationality Act (國籍法) requires that individuals with dual nationality renounce their foreign citizenship before assuming public office and obtain a certificate testifying to the loss of citizenship within one year of their inauguration.
“Although Chang is allowed to sign up as a candidate under the Nationality Act, how can the DPP accept that when it always links the issue of dual nationality to national allegiance? Was the DPP okay with an American running for legislature?” Wu asked.
The party’s failure to have Chang renounce his US citizenship is a demonstration of DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) incompetence, Wu said, adding that Tsai should either apologize or revoke Chang’s nomination.
Last month, Chang was quoted by the Chinese-language United Daily News as saying he had never tried to hide the fact that he has US citizenship.
“It’s natural that I am a US citizen because I worked in the US for more than 20 years after graduation there,” he said in a report on Oct. 11. “Unlike some elected officials who go to the US to keep their green cards valid, but hide their intentions, I have never lied to my constituents.”
Chang yesterday said he would handle the problem in accordance with the law.
“I have resigned from a well-paying job in the US and returned to Taiwan to serve the people. There is no doubt that I will take care of the problem,” he said, adding that there was no need for Wu to make an issue out of the case.
The DPP confirmed in a press release last night that Chang has not renounced his US citizenship and urged him to do so as soon as possible. Chang’s patriotism in returning to the country to serve is commendable, it said.
Additional reporting by ChrisWang
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai