The Presidential Office yesterday displayed a letter from the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) that it said proved President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) voided his status as a permanent US resident by renouncing his “green card,” but critics pointed out that the statement was inconsistent with Ma’s previous claims that since his green card had “expired, it was invalidated automatically.”
Presidential Office spokesperson Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏) called a news conference yesterday to show the letter from Joseph Donovan, managing director of the AIT’s Washington office, addressed to Taiwanese Representative to the US Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) and dated May 14.
“We have previously been informed that President Ma Ying-jeou’s abandonment of his former legal permanent resident status has long been included in appropriate US immigration system records. This issue is therefore closed,” the letter said.
Photo: CNA
Lee said the letter showed that the president lost his permanent US residency a long time ago “and this is the only truth.”
Lee expressed appreciation to Washington for “speedily clearing up [the allegation]” made by Next Magazine on Wednesday that Ma is subject to the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and must pay taxes to the US government.
Lee said Shen was instructed by the government to negotiate with Washington to address the “fabrications” the magazine made “with malicious intent.”
The green card issue has haunted Ma since the 2008 presidential election and has seen him widely criticized for failing to show that he filed an Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status application, or Form I-407, to prove his claims that the resident status he obtained while studying in the US in 1977 was no longer valid.
In the past, Ma and his staff have said that the president’s green card became invalid a long time ago because he used a non-immigrant visa when he entered the US and has since then used a non-immigrant visa when he visits the country.
The Presidential Office yesterday again failed to present the form proving that Ma has, as required by US law, renounced his status in writing to US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).
Speaking to the Taipei Times later yesterday, AIT spokesperson Mark Zimmer said it was the Taiwanese government’s decision to share the letter, not the US’.
Zimmer said he was unaware as to when Washington was informed that Ma had abandoned his permanent resident status.
Next Magazine reported that the US Internal Revenue Service’s Beijing office told the publication that green card holders have permanent residency status and are therefore required to pay US taxes on worldwide income except in the following cases: if they voluntarily renounce their status in writing to the USCIS; if the green card holder’s immigrant status is administratively terminated by the USCIS; or if the individual’s immigrant status is judicially terminated by a US federal court.
Separately yesterday, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that while the Presidential Office was trying to quell the controversy with the letter, Ma’s integrity was the key issue in the dispute.
“While the document released by the Presidential Office today showed that Ma has lost his residency status in the US, many questions remain unanswered,” DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said.
Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who broke the residency story while campaigning as the DPP’s candidate in the 2008 presidential election, said the letter seems to hint that Ma took action to abandon his residency status after March 2008, which would mean he lied in the campaign when he said his green card was automatically voided.
“I call on Ma to clarify when he renounced his residency. Taiwanese have the right to know,” he added.
Additional reporting by Chris Wang
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2
PLAN: Nations would receive US$5m a year if they could advance Taiwan’s international participation, diversify supply chains away from China or counter Beijing’s influence The US House of Representatives Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the US and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Friday introduced a bill that would approve US$120 million to be spent on supporting Taiwan’s international space and tackling coercion by China. The bipartisan legislation — the Taiwan Allies Fund Act — was proposed ahead of the inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on May 20. The committee said in a statement that the bill “strengthens Taiwan’s global network of friends by authorizing [US]$120 million over three years for the State Department and USAID [US Agency
SELF-SUFFICIENCY: The project would only be the beginning, as Taiwan needs at least 120 satellites to ensure uninterrupted communication, Wu Tsung-tsong said The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday said it plans to launch six low Earth orbit satellites starting in 2026 as part of the government’s plan to boost the resilience of the nation’s communications. The development of the technology gained attention after Ukrainians were able to access the Internet through Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service, despite their infrastructure being severely damaged in the war with Russia. Two of the satellites would be built by the government, while four would involve cooperation between TASA and private contractors. “Over the past 30 years, the satellite technology in Taiwan has
‘DIGITAL SOLIDARITY’: Taiwan, the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are to install and operate a cable that would connect up to 100,000 people in the Pacific Islands Taiwan, the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are working together to install undersea cables as a demonstration of digital solidarity, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday. Blinken talked about the cooperation in a speech he delivered at the RSA Conference in San Francisco. He said that the US International Cyberspace and Digital Strategy launched by the US Department of State “treats digital solidarity as our North Star.” “Solidarity informs our approach not only to digital technologies, but to all key foundational technologies,” Blinken said. Under the strategy, the US is to work with international partners “to shape the design, development,