The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday defended the government’s decision to dismiss a village warden for holding People’s Republic of China (PRC) nationality, saying that she could have attempted to renounce it by applying to the Chinese authorities.
“Although they have repeatedly petitioned the government [over the dismissal], I have yet to see any indication that they have actually applied to renounce their Chinese nationality,” MAC deputy head Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said.
“She can apply to renounce her Chinese nationality under the Chinese Communist Party’s Nationality Law, but it appears that no one has ever actually done so,” he added.
Photo: Taipei Times
Deng Wanhua (鄧萬華), who served as warden of Syuetian Village (學田) in Hualien County’s Fuli Township (富里), was removed from her post by the township office on Friday last week.
Deng was one of five village wardens who, according to the Ministry of the Interior, were found in January to hold PRC nationality — a status that contravenes the Nationality Act (國籍法), the ministry said.
Article 20 of the act stipulates that a Republic of China (ROC) national “who acquires the nationality of another country shall have no right to hold government offices of the ROC.”
“So far, they’ve only said that it’s not possible to renounce [the PRC nationality] ... As to whether it’s actually impossible or not, I don’t know,” Liang said, adding that those removed from public office due to holding PRC nationality “should at least try to go through the process.”
Under the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), people from China who acquire Taiwanese nationality are eligible to run for public office after 10 years, Liang said.
Article 20 of the Nationality Act stipulates that those elected to public office must renounce any foreign nationality within one year of taking office, he added.
“Nationality has nothing to do with whether our government recognizes it [a particular country] or not,” Liang said, citing the example of Northern Cyprus, a Mediterranean state that is only recognized by Turkey.
Based on the Nationality Act, if a person holding the nationality of Northern Cyprus seeks to run for public office in Taiwan after acquiring Taiwanese citizenship, they must also renounce their Northern Cypriot nationality, Liang said.
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