Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Li Zhengxiu (李貞秀) yesterday said she would authorize the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) to handle all matters related to renouncing her Chinese nationality, while expressing hope that all disputes would end there.
Li said she came to Taiwan in 1993 through marriage and obtained her Taiwanese ID card and household registration in 1999, while also officially canceling her household registration in China’s Hunan Province.
All procedures were carried out in accordance with Taiwan’s laws, she said, adding that she submitted a certificate obtained in March last year that she had canceled her household registration in China on April 26, 1993.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Li added that in response to a request from the National Immigration Agency (NIA) last year asking Chinese spouses to submit proof that they have canceled their household registration, she cooperated with the process out of respect for administrative procedures.
She said she entrusted her family to handle the notarized documents in Hunan, which were then certified by the Straits Exchange Foundation and submitted to the NIA.
The questions surrounding her citizenship status were tantamount to “red-smearing” innocent Chinese spouses of Taiwanese and finding excuses to criminalize immigrants, she said.
The government’s treatment of her is “tantamount to telling Chinese spouses that they need to shut up and be quiet, that they are second-class citizens who are not qualified to have a voice or a say in monitoring the government,” she said.
Later yesterday, MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said Li married in Taiwan on April 26, 1993, and obtained permanent residency in 1999.
However, in 1999, the cross-strait regulations did not yet require a single household registration, he said.
This means that between the time she married in Taiwan in 1993 and obtained permanent residency in 1999, there was no requirement to cancel her household registration in China because the government did not mandate it at the time.
There are also concerns about the format of the certificate she submitted, he said.
As for Li authorizing the council to handle her renunciation of Chinese nationality, Liang said that individuals wishing to renounce their original nationality must handle the process themselves, regardless of the country.
“If you want to renounce US citizenship, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs won’t assist you,” he said. “Similarly, if you’re renouncing your nationality from across the Strait, the Mainland Affairs Council will only direct you to manage it on your own.”
The documents Li submitted will be returned to her, he said.
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