Li Zhenxiu (李貞秀), an at-large legislative nominee for the Taiwan People’s Party, is expected to use the party’s two-year clause to take office in 2026, becoming the first Chinese-born legislator in Taiwan. However, she must first prove that she no longer holds Chinese nationality. Li said that she has never used a Chinese passport, leaving Democratic Progressive Party supporters wondering how she entered Taiwan in the first place.
The Mainland Affairs Council’s position is clear. The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that “any people of the Mainland Area permitted to enter into the Taiwan Area may not register itself as candidate for any public office, serve in the government, educational institutions or state enterprises, or organize any political party unless it has had a household registration in the Taiwan Area for at least 10 years.”
Li got married and moved to Taiwan 30 years ago and thus conforms to those guidelines.
However, according to the Nationality Act (國籍法), “a national of the ROC [Republic of China, Taiwan] who acquires the nationality of another country shall have no right to hold government offices of the ROC.”
So people with dual nationality cannot hold public office.
Politicians who have been questioned about holding dual nationality have presented proof that they had renounced their foreign nationality, but Li said that she cannot renounce something she no longer possesses.
There have always been laws on both sides of the Taiwan Strait stipulating that people renounce their “household registration” — meaning nationality — of the opposite side to acquire it where they are.
Prior to 2003, Taiwan required people to give up their Chinese household registration before applying for nationality here. The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area was amended that year, setting a stand-down period of six years. After residing in Taiwan for six years, applicants are eligible for temporary nationality. With that, they have three months to travel to China and renounce their household registration there before their ROC nationality can formally take effect.
However, renouncing household registration in China requires government certification. Once that is acquired and the process in Taiwan is completed, if they want to travel to China, they have to apply for a “Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents,” as their status as a citizen of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is officially void.
Unless there are issues with lost documents, presenting proof of renunciation of household registration should be a simple task, but travel to China can be risky.
Gusa Press editor-in-chief Li Yanhe (李延賀), better known by his pen name, Fucha (富察), has been detained in China for almost two years while the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) investigates his alleged contravention of the “Anti-Secession” Law after. He was in Shanghai early last year to renounce his household registration.
The reason for his detention is likely that Gusa Press published books that were banned by the CCP. His whereabouts are unknown and his family has not heard from him since he left Taiwan.
Taipei should consider allowing people with special circumstances to simply make a public declaration of renunciation of their Chinese household registration to avoid the risks associated with traveling to China.
It would be heartbreaking if more situations were to arise such as what Li Yanhe is going through.
Wang Chih-shao is a political consultant for the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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