MAC defends removing village chief over Chinese nationality

Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday defended the government's decision to dismiss a village chief in eastern Taiwan over her alleged People's Republic of China (PRC) nationality, saying 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 and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular news briefing.

"She can apply to renounce her Chinese nationality under the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) Nationality Law, but it appears that no one has ever actually done so," he added.

The village chief referred by Liang is Deng Wan-hua (鄧萬華), who served as chief of Xuetian Village in Hualien County's Fuli Township before being removed from her post by the township office last Friday.

Deng was one of five village or ward chiefs who, according to Taiwan's Ministry of the Interior (MOI), were found in January to hold PRC nationality -- a status that contravenes the Nationality Act of the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan's official name), the ministry said.

Article 20 of the Nationality Act stipulates a 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."

According to Article 9 of the Nationality Law of the PRC, any Chinese national "who has settled abroad and who has been naturalized as a foreign national or has acquired foreign nationality of his own free will shall automatically lose Chinese nationality."

Article 10 of the Law also stipulates that Chinese nationals may renounce their Chinese nationality if they are "near relatives of foreign nationals," have "settled abroad," or have "other legitimate reasons."

However, it remains unclear whether individuals like Deng are able to renounce their Chinese nationality under the above provisions, even if they attempted to initiate the process in China, as the PRC does not recognize the ROC as a sovereign state -- and the ROC, under its legal framework, does not recognize the PRC as a foreign sovereign state either.

As a result, she is unlikely to qualify as a "foreign national" or be considered as having "settled abroad," making it difficult for her to meet Taiwan's legal criteria for renunciation.

In terms of the eligibility of individuals from China to run for public office, Liang said that under the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (Cross-Strait Act), individuals from the Mainland Area who acquire Taiwanese nationality are eligible to run for public office after 10 years.

However, Article 20 of the Nationality Act stipulates that those elected to public office must renounce any foreign nationality within one year of taking office, Liang 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 self-declared state in the Mediterranean that is currently 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.

Originally from Guangyuan City in Sichuan Province, Deng came to Taiwan through marriage in 1997 and obtained her Taiwanese national ID card 17 years ago. She was first elected village chief in 2022.

Deng said Sunday that she holds a Taiwanese passport, not a PRC one, noting, "I do not have PRC nationality. So what nationality issue is there?"

"It's the MOI and the ruling party forcing this," she added, referring to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is chaired by President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and holds control of the executive branch.

Deng said she was elected legally and will file an administrative appeal to protect her rights.

In response to critics accusing the MOI and MAC of using Deng's dismissal to "sneak in the 'two-state theory'" by the back door, Liang said Article 20 of the Nationality Act exists to ensure that public officials have "a single object of allegiance."

"In essence, the act's requirement means that any so-called foreign nationality, whether issued by a regime or a de facto government, falls under the scope of Article 20, as long as it involves the concept of nationality," he added.