DEFENSE/Volunteer soldiers to be asked to sign dual nationality affidavit: MND

Taipei, Feb. 12 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) on Wednesday said it will ask all applicant volunteer soldiers to sign an affidavit that they do not have dual nationality, to avoid the re-occurrence of a recent incident when a naval serviceman was found having a Chinese ID card.

The ministry plans to ask aspirants to sign an affidavit pledging they do not have dual nationality, Colonel Huang Ming-chun (黃銘君) of the MND's deputy chief of general staff office in charge of personnel said at a news briefing.

Meanwhile, the Navy is beefing up its vetting of service personnel to see if others hold dual nationality, Navy Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Chiu Chun-jung (邱俊榮) said.

The Navy will also specify in its admission guidelines that in the future applicants who wish to join the Navy cannot hold dual nationality, Chiu added.

However, MND officials did not say if the signed affidavit will be considered legally binding or when the new rules will take effect.

The latest announcement came after the Navy confirmed local media reports on Monday that a naval serviceman surnamed Yang (楊) recently found himself in possession of a Chinese ID card without his knowledge.

Yang told the Navy that his mother, originally from China, had obtained the ID on his behalf without telling him, Chiu told the briefing on Wednesday.

The Navy is now helping Yang to apply to retain his Republic of China (Taiwan) nationality to the National Immigration Agency (NIA), Chiu said.

Chiu added that the Navy has transferred Yang from his current post to a position that has no access to sensitive or confidential military information for national security reasons.

Local media reported that Yang previously served in the Navy's 168th Fleet aboard a Chi Yang-class frigate.

According to the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, Taiwanese citizens are not allowed to have household registration in China or hold Chinese passports.

Violators will be deprived of their status as people of Taiwan and their rights of election, recall, initiative, referendum, serving military service or public offices, according to Article 9-1 of the act.

According to Chinese law, a household registration is required to obtain a Chinese ID.