The opposition yesterday blasted President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) reported holding of US permanent residence status, saying that Ma has been lying about the issue and should step down over what it described as his lack of integrity.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) both said Ma has lost his legitimacy to govern after being found to be evading taxes as a holder of US permanent residence status, which was reported by the Chinese-language Next Magazine yesterday.
The report showed that Ma has always lied to Taiwanese about his “green card” status, in particular during the presidential campaign in 2007, when the topic was a central theme of the election, Hsieh said.
Hsieh said Ma had also lied to late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) about his green card since he entered politics in the 1980s.
Ma’s argument that his green card was no longer effective after leaving the US and not using it for more than a year was not consistent with what happened to several former Cabinet members in his administration, who had to renounce their permanent residence status in the US or Canada to invalidate the status, DPP Policy Research Committee executive director Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said.
US green card status is only invalidated under three circumstances, Wu said.
“One, if one sends a written declaration to the US immigration authorities to renounce the right. Two, if the US Immigration authority invalidated the status. Three, if a US federal court terminates the residence status in a ruling,” he said, adding that Ma’s explanation was not among the three circumstances.
“Ma has disgraced the country and he has to offer an explanation on the matter in person, rather than issuing press releases,” Wu said.
Taiwan Solidarity Union caucus convener Lai Chen-chang (賴振昌) said Ma’s tax controversy was “ridiculous” and his credibility “is now officially bankrupt.”
“If Ma ended up filing taxes to the US Internal Revenue Services, that means he’s been lying to the people of Taiwan. If he does not offer a clear explanation on the matter within three days, we do not rule out filing a lawsuit against him,” Lai said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
THE GOOD WORD: More than 100 colleges on both sides of the Pacific will work together to bring students to Taiwan so they can learn Mandarin where it is spoken A total of 102 universities from Taiwan and the US are collaborating in a push to promote Taiwan as the first-choice place to learn Mandarin, with seven Mandarin learning centers stood up in the US to train and support teachers, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) said. At the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held over the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Taiwan Pavilion was jointly run by 17 representative teams from the FICHET, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, the
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
RSS