Lawmakers made a resolution yesterday that public officials holding dual citizenship should be removed from their positions -- an agreement reached after heated debate, triggered by the controversy surrounding the nationality of Hsiao Bi-khim (
Hsiao, a US citizen whose father is Taiwanese and whose mother is American, has been working closely with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) as his adviser and translator. Opposition lawmakers have attacked the government regarding her employment, claiming that putting a foreigner in charge of national affairs is endangering the country's security.
When Director of the Cabinet's Central Personnel Administration Chu Wu-hsien (
"Then, the nature of Hsiao's work is in breach of the regulation that advisers should not be responsible for work that is highly confidential," Ying said.
KMT Legislator Kuo Su-chun (
Chu, appearing baffled, said that he had dealt with the employment of Hsiao in accordance with official documents filed by the personnel office of the Presidential Office, adding that he did not know all the details.
Unsatisfied with Chu's answers, attending lawmakers lashed out at Chu's negligence.
Facing the displeasure of the lawmakers, Chu replied by saying that he would be more careful in the future with similar cases.
After rounds of hot arguments between DPP and opposition lawmakers, they passed a resolution that all executive organizations should thoroughly investigate the background of their employees, and that those who retain dual citizenship should be removed from their posts.
Hsiao is currently overseas, and so could not be reached. But according to a press release she issued last Wednesday, she said she would abandon her US citizenship before she gets her ROC identification card, adding that she could not yet get her ROC identification card because, according to Taiwan's legal regulations, she had to stay in Taiwan continuously for one year to qualify to apply for a Taiwanese ID card.
Due to her work, Hsiao said, she had never stayed in Taiwan for more than a year, therefore, she could not file the application.
Lawmakers yesterday also questioned the validity of a regulation made by the Examination Yuan, which states that public officials with dual citizenship are required to forsake their citizenship of the other country within one year.
The regulation, merely a resolution made by members of the Examination Yuan, is not legally binding.
Moreover, it is in violation of Article 20 of the Nationality Law (
Article 20 of the Nationality law states that ROC citizens cannot become public officials if they become citizens of another country and that if they already hold a public post, they are to be removed from the position. Article 28 of the Civil Servants Employment Law says that those who are not ROC citizens are not allowed to serve as a ROC public servants.
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
RSS