Seventy-four percent of respondents in a survey administered by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said that Chinese spouses must relinquish Chinese citizenship before becoming legislators or assuming government posts.
The council tasked National Chengchi University’s Election Research Center to gauge changes in public opinion on cross-strait issues.
The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) stipulates that Chinese spouses can run for public office in Taiwan 10 years after obtaining an ID card, council Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“However, the Nationality Act (國籍法) requires foreign spouses to relinquish their nationalities other than that of the Republic of China (Taiwan) after they are elected. This is to avoid having divided loyalties,” Liang said.
“I cannot say for sure that Chinese spouses can successfully relinquish their Chinese citizenship, as I have not seen such cases,” he said.
Countries such as Argentina prohibit relinquishment of citizenship, and naturalized Taiwanese citizens from these countries would be asked to leave office if they still hold dual citizenship within one year after being elected, as per the Nationality Act, he said.
The survey also found that 89.5 percent of respondents did not agree with China’s moves to oppress Taiwan on the military, economic and diplomatic fronts, while 84.9 percent did not support Beijing’s characterization of Taiwan as an internal issue, nor did they agree that countries around the world should adhere to the so-called “one China” policy.
More than 86 percent of respondents did not support Taiwan being subject to “one country, two systems.”
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