Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) was granted permission not to respond to questions from Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Li Zhenxiu (李貞秀) during Li’s first legislative inquiry yesterday, as questions over her eligibility to serve continued to loom.
Although Li has held a Taiwanese ID card for more than 10 years and registered as a candidate for TPP’s legislators-at-large in 2023, the ministry’s records showed she did not complete the renunciation of Chinese citizenship until March last year and that she had dual citizenship when she registered as a candidate.
The rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法施行細則) require candidates to sign a declaration stating that they do not possess household registration in China, Chinese passport or nationality of any other country.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Li was reported to have falsely claimed having only Taiwanese citizenship when she was sworn into office last month.
Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) ruled following a cross-caucus negotiation last week that Li’s status and authority as legislator should be respected until the issues have been settled through judicial proceedings.
Li repeatedly attempted to put Liu on the stand during the Legislature’s Internal Administration Committee meeting yesterday, her first inquiry after becoming a Taiwanese legislator.
However, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Po-yi (李柏毅), who presided over the meeting, said Li’s right to speak at the committee would be respected, but Executive Yuan officials were entitled to not respond to her questions or provide information she requested.
After the meeting, Li accused Liu of humiliating her and Taiwan’s democracy for addressing her as “Mrs.” rather than a legislator. She said the meeting’s conveners should be neutral in the matter regarding her qualifications.
“The legislature is the highest institution that represents the people and the Executive Yuan cannot unilaterally decide, without any legal basis, to deprive a legislator of the right to question government officials simply because of their political affiliation,” Li told reporters.
Liu said during the meeting that Li should say if she is still Chinese, as the ministry has yet to receive documents proving that she had filed an application to renounce her citizenship before she was sworn into office.
“The agencies overseen by the Ministry of the Interior, including the National Police Agency, National Land Management Agency, National Fire Agency have classified documents. As civil servants must be loyal to the country and abide by national security laws, I am afraid we cannot do as she requests,” Liu said, adding that Li might even face criminal charges if she falsely claimed not to possess Chinese citizenship.
The Mainland Affairs Council said Article 21 of 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) allows Chinese nationals to run for and hold public office in Taiwan after having a registered household in Taiwan for 10 years, with the 10-year period beginning after they complete naturalization procedures, including obtaining Taiwanese citizenship and submitting proof of renunciation of Chinese citizenship within the time period.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) has only received a document issued by the public security bureau in China’s Hunan Province in March last year, saying Li had canceled her household registration in China following her marriage in Taiwan in 1993.
The cross-strait laws back then required Chinese nationals to cancel Chinese household registration after obtaining Taiwanese citizenship, which Li did in 1999.
Li was unlikely to have canceled her Chinese household registration before securing Taiwanese citizenship in 1999, the council said.
Following an amendment to Article 9 of the cross-strait act in 2004, Chinese nationals were given six months to submit proof of canceling their Chinese household registration after the amendment was implemented. The time period was later shortened to three months.
The NIA has never received such proof, the council said.
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