Taiwan's CEC, MOFA investigating if candidates have dual nationality

Taipei, Nov. 30 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Thursday that it has ordered overseas representative offices to check whether any presidential and vice presidential candidates hold a foreign nationality, following a request from the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) per Taiwanese laws.

The verification process is currently taking place, and the results will be provided to the CEC upon completion, MOFA spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) told reporters in Taipei.

Liu said such verification to ascertain whether a presidential or vice presidential candidate holds a nationality other than the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan's official name, is a long-standing practice before every election, held every four years.

According to the CEC, every presidential and vice presidential candidate, namely the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), opposition Kuomintang's Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) and Jaw Shau-kong (趙少康), and Taiwan People's Party's (TPP) Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Wu Hsin-ying (吳欣盈), signed nationality verification consent forms when they registered.

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The CEC sent an official request to MOFA on Nov. 27, along with candidates' signed forms, to help verify if any of them hold non-ROC nationality.

No candidate, including those running to be president or vice president, are allowed to hold non-ROC nationality, according to the CEC.

This process comes amid allegations that Ko's running mate, Wu, a TPP lawmaker, still holds United States nationality after reports appeared in local media.

Both the KMT and DPP have since asked Wu to provide proof to clarify her nationality status.

Wu told reporters in response on Wednesday that she had renounced her U.S. citizenship "years ago" when she returned to Taiwan after years of working in America.

She added that the CEC and Legislative Yuan carried out checks on her nationality status when she became a TPP lawmaker in 2022.

Also known as Cynthia Wu, the TPP member is the daughter of former Shin Kong Financial Holding Co. Chairman Eugene Wu (吳東進). She previously worked at the company as vice president and in November 2022 was appointed as a legislator-at-large.

The Legislative Yuan noted on Thursday that although incoming lawmakers are asked to sign an affidavit confirming they do not have a second nationality, it has never investigated further.

When asked whether Wu still has U.S. nationality, an American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) spokesperson declined to comment "due to privacy reasons," and referred the CNA reporter to "Cynthia Wu or the TPP for additional information."

AIT represents U.S. interests in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties.

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