The legal requirement to renounce foreign nationality within one year of being elected “leaves no room for interpretation,” Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today, after Hualien County overturned the dismissal of a village warden for holding Chinese citizenship.
Liu made the comments when speaking to reporters today before a meeting at the Legislative Yuan.
Deng Wanhua (鄧萬華) served as warden of Syuetian Village (學田) in Hualien County’s Fuli Township (富里), but was removed from her post by the township office on Aug. 1 for holding People’s Republic of China nationality.
Photo courtesy of the Fuli Township Office
Deng appealed to the Hualien County Government, which reportedly decided to revoke the original punishment on Oct. 29.
Liu said that the Ministry of the Interior has yet to receive any official documents of the appeal decision from the Hualien County Government or Fuli Township Office, so it cannot verify the information.
The ministry would send personnel to local government offices to understand the situation, she said.
According to Article 20 of the Nationality Act (國籍法), those elected to public office must renounce any foreign nationality within one year of taking office, Liu said.
Foreign nationality refers to any nationality other than the Republic of China, she said.
Authorities for interpreting this law are within the ministry, and the ministry requires local governments to follow these regulations in handling any office dismissals, she said.
Under the Constitution, the limits of the Nationality Act remain the same, and there is no room for interpretation on this, Liu added.
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