Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Diane Lee (李慶安) accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday of confusing the public with its discussion of whether she has US citizenship, but denied authorizing prosecutors to look into the issue.
“Prosecutors did not talk to me about [asking the US to check on my citizenship status] when I met them,” she said at the Legislative Yuan.
Lee made the remarks after coming under fire yesterday for not authorizing prosecutors to seek assistance from US authorities to determine whether she has US citizenship.
A report in yesterday’s edition of the Chinese-language China Times quoted Taipei prosecutors as saying they had asked Lee for a letter of authorization to help them request assistance from US authorities.
Prosecutors had expressed regret over a statement issued by Lee, who declined to give the authorization, the story said.
Lee issued a statement on Tuesday rebutting an earlier China Times story that said she had authorized prosecutors to contact US authorities to ask that they confirm whether she has US citizenship.
Without the authorization, the US government will not release Lee’s personal information to prosecutors, the newspaper said yesterday.
The prosecutors said they would continue to communicate with Lee and to seek her cooperation with the investigation, it said.
The prosecutors said they would respect Lee’s decision if she did not agree to give her authorization and would seek other ways to investigate the case, the paper said.
It has been more than three months since the prosecutors were asked to investigate Lee’s alleged dual citizenship.
DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) criticized Lee yesterday for using US law to protect herself while she serves as a legislator in Taiwan.
Lee said the allegations that she is a US citizen should be addressed in accordance with the law, adding that she would not respond to the criticism of DPP lawmakers who had “repeatedly used political mudslinging to cloud the issue.”
“If the legislature demands that all legislators sign a consent form on checking our foreign citizenship status, I will definitely sign it. I will also cooperate with the investigation of prosecutors,” she said.
The Nationality Act (國籍法) forbids persons holding foreign citizenship from serving in the legislature.
Lee had promised on May 30 that she would cooperate with authorities in the investigation and expressed support for the probe.
The citizenship controversy erupted following a Next Magazine report that accused Lee of holding US citizenship.
Lee has claimed that she forfeited her US citizenship when she was sworn in as Taipei City councilor in 1994, but has not offered evidence.
Lee will be required to give up her seat in the legislature and pay back her salary if she is found to hold dual citizenship.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
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