The Ministry of the Interior is seeking to revoke the citizenship of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference member Ling Yu-shih (凌友詩) after she made a controversial speech at China’s annual National People’s Congress in Beijing on Monday.
Ling in her speech expressed “great anticipation” for Taiwan’s unification with China, drawing ire from Taiwanese netizens.
Speaking as a “representative of Taiwan” at the congress, Ling spoke proudly of her “Chinese identity,” prompting many Taiwanese netizens to say they “felt like vomiting.”
Screengrab from the China News Service Web site
Ling, who moved from Taiwan to Hong Kong when she was 17 years old, called her life the embodiment of China’s “one country, two systems” framework.
“Standing with all of the other members of this conference in bearing the mission of rejuvenating the Chinese people has relied entirely on me escaping the narrow confines of Taiwan’s structure,” she said.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the “sole legitimate government” of “all of China,” she said, adding that she believes Beijing would soon bestow “legally recognized Chinese citizenship on the residents of Taiwan, much like a mother being reunited with her child.”
“I can’t listen to any more of this,” one netizen commented on a video of the speech on YouTube.
Another comment allegedly from a Hong Kong resident read: “Ms Ling, if you get cancer in the future, remember to see a doctor in China, which you love so much. Don’t go back to Taiwan for treatment.”
“Look, Taiwanese. This [Ling’s speech] is how you will all talk after unification,” another commenter from Hong Kong said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) yesterday during a committee meeting at the Legislative Yuan asked whether Ling’s citizenship and healthcare would be canceled, just as Taiwan-born Lu Li-an (盧麗安) was stripped of her citizenship after she announced in 2017 that she had become a CCP representative.
Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said that the government is leaning in that direction and vowed to discuss the issue with the Mainland Affairs Council.
“Ling Yu-shih’s father was a retired navy executive officer... She [Ling] is disgracing former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石),” Liu said, asking whether Ling’s statement about quick unification broke any laws.
Liu also asked how a China-made Web site registered to a Taiwanese domain touting Beijing’s “31 incentives” would be dealt with if it is found to be disseminating disinformation.
The National Police Agency would be tasked with tracing the site’s IP address to locate the source, Hsu said.
Internet service providers would also be asked to provide information about the site’s users if criminal activity is discovered, he said, adding that the ministry would work with the National Communications Commission on the issue.
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