The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday lashed out at Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄) over the commission's delay in publicizing the US' and Japan's responses to the commission's probe into whether the presidential candidates or their running mates have dual citizenship.
KMT caucus whip Alex Fai (
DEFENSE
Fai said Chang's failure to publicize the information over the weekend had prevented KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) from defending himself with the information when being questioned by Ma's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) counterpart Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) during Sunday's presidential debate.
Hsieh's camp has been accusing Ma of holding a valid green card since late January. Ma has contended that he once held a green card but no longer does because the card was invalidated when he used a visitor's visa to enter the US.
Referring to the commission as "shameful," Fai said Chang is obliged to explain to the public why the publication was delayed.
Fai's criticism came after the commission issued a press release on Monday afternoon, saying that the commission had received responses from the American Institute in Taiwan showing that neither Ma, Hsieh, or their running mates appeared to be a US citizen based on US citizen and immigration records.
"Japanese naturalization regulations require that [an applicant] renounce his or her original citizenship before being granted Japanese citizenship," the CEC statement also said.
"We confirmed with the Ministry of the Interior that all four are Republic of China citizens and therefore cannot be Japanese citizens," it said.
Chang also said during a legislative interpellation session on Monday that the UK was to reply to the probe soon.
However, Chang also admitted during the session that he had received the responses last Friday but was unable to publicize them until Monday because he had been preoccupied with official business.
In response, Chang denied the accusations.
"If we had intended to help the DPP, we would have asked the US to find out whether Ma is a US green card holder instead of a US citizen," Chang said when approached by reporters outside the legislature.
Chang said, "it was not an intentional delay in announcing the result. It's efficient enough that we made it public [on Monday] after we received a response from the American Institute in Taiwan last Friday."
TIED UP
He said he was tied up in a legislative interpellation session the whole day on Friday over the second presidential debate, which was organized by the commission.
Meanwhile, Hsieh's campaign team continued to argue Ma's green card was still valid, challenging Ma's claim that his green card was automatically invalidated in 1985 when he applied for a visa to travel to the US.
Hsieh Hsin-ni (
While the CEC had cleared Ma of being a US citizen, Hsieh Hsin-ni yesterday urged Ma to offer a clear account on exactly when his green card became invalid since he and his campaign have offered three different versions in response to their questions on the issue.
ESTIMATION
In response, Ma camp spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (
Lo said the camp was only able to present a rough expiration time of the card because Ma only remembered that his green card had expired around 1985 while they were unable to find the passports he used prior to 1990.
"Everyone knows that non-immigrant visa holders cannot own green cards at the same time," Lo said.
"If the pan-green camp could really obtain [Ma's departure] record before 1985, we would welcome to publicize the information because it would only prove that Ma's green card expired even earlier," he said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan and and Ko Shu-ling
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS