Minister questioned over possible seating of Chinese spouse in Legislature

Taipei, Nov. 13 (CNA) Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said Wednesday that she would work "cautiously" with the Legislature to resolve whether Chinese spouse and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) member Lee Zhen-hsiu (李貞秀) can be seated as a lawmaker.

During a hearing of the legislative Internal Administration Committee, Liu was asked about Lee Zhen-hsiu's legal eligibility for office by Lee Po-yee (李柏毅) of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

Lee Zhen-hsiu was placed 15th on the TPP's at-large legislator list in this year's Jan. 13 election.

Although only eight TPP lawmakers from the list were elected, the party previously pledged to rotate out its lawmakers after two years, meaning that candidates Nos. 9-16 on the list, including Lee, could enter the Legislature in 2026.

In response, Liu said that according to Article 20 of the Nationality Act, nationals who hold citizenship in another country must renounce it in order to hold public office.

When lawmakers are inaugurated, Liu said, they are required to sign an affidavit attesting whether or not they have foreign citizenship.

If they do, they are then required to submit documents showing they've renounced their foreign citizenship within one year of taking office, Liu said, citing a document the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) sent to the Legislature in 2009 detailing how the law would be enforced.

If the lawmaker does not renounced his or her foreign citizenship within one year, their credentials will be revoked under the Public Officials Election and Recall Act, Liu said.

Complications

The issue becomes more complicated when it comes to Chinese citizens, due to the status of cross-strait issues under Taiwanese law.

Taiwan's primary law on the subject, the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, refers only to the "household registrations" of people in the two areas, not to citizenship.

As a result, People's Republic of China (PRC) citizens who meet all other eligibility requirements can apply for the citizenship of the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan's formal name) after annulling their PRC household registration.

They can then register as candidates for public office 10 years after being naturalized, as Lee Zhen-hsiu did.

Lee Zhen-hsiu

In his questioning of Liu, Lee Po-yee raised the possibility that China could agree to revoke Lee Zhen-hsiu's household registration but not her Chinese citizenship, in which case the MOI would have to handle her potential seating in the Legislature "with caution."

"This is something you would have to ask a Chinese national," Liu replied. "But as far as the Nationality Act and the Constitution are concerned, your loyalty has to be to the ROC, and not some other country."

"The Ministry of the Interior will work with the Legislative Yuan with caution to resolve this issue," she added.

Precedent

Liu and Lee Po-yee noted that Taiwan has a precedent in a similar case, though in that instance, the foreign citizenship involved was the United States and not China.

They were likely referring to former Kuomintang lawmaker Lee Ching-an (李慶安), who was revealed in a March 2008 Next Magazine report to also be a U.S. citizen.

Despite initially disputing the claims, Lee Ching-an resigned from the Legislature in January 2009. The Central Election Commission revoked her status as an elected official the following month.