Chinese National Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
Earlier yesterday, Ma had publicly denied having a green card, saying that "no members of his family possessed one."
In the declaration yesterday evening Ma said because his eldest daughter, Lesley Ma (
"However no other members of my family possess a US passport, not myself, my wife, or my youngest daughter, nor have we applied for one," he said.
Ma did admit that during his stay in the US he applied and obtained a green card, around 1977, in order to get student loans and employment after graduation.
He said that he ceased using his green card in the late 1980s and had applied for visas via the American Institute in Taiwan when traveling to the US, which "by American law, would be seen as giving up the green card."
"Both my wife's and my green card became invalid this way; my younger daughter, on the other hand, has never had a green card," he said. "Since both myself and my wife have given up our green cards for more than 20 years, when I was asked about it yesterday, I naturally said that I did not have a green card."
Earlier in the day, when he was approached for comment in Tainan, Ma said: "I've already answered the question and today's newspapers also ran stories with my response. No one in my family has a green card."
Ma then urged Hsieh to respond to a question he asked on Sept. 29 regarding why Hsieh could not urge the government to immediately allow direct cross-strait transportation and investment from China.
Ma said he always responded to Hsieh's questions quickly, while Hsieh failed to reciprocate.
Earlier yesterday Hsieh had raised the green card issue again.
"[Whether you have a green card] is such a simple question. Why can't Ma answer the question in person? If Ma lied about this, he should drop out of the election," Hsieh said.
Hsieh raised the same question on Sunday as he registered his candidacy, but it was Wang Yu-chi (
At a press conference held to declare his clean politics election platform, Hsieh persisted in questioning Ma, saying he would pursue the issue until Ma had provided a response.
"I didn't question Ma about the green card for no reason. Maybe he has spent the past two days trying to find a way with his lawyers to have the card revoked," Hsieh said.
"Ma keeps saying he is closely bound to the fate of Taiwan. If a presidential candidate holds a US green card or is able to apply for dependent status, it would be just like wearing a life jacket. His pledge was merely pretense," Hsieh said.
Later yesterday, after Ma had rebutted the allegations, Hsieh asked Ma to specify the date since when Ma and his family members had not had US green cards.
"Did Ma mean that he never owned a green card, doesn't have a green card now, or that his green card has been revoked?" Hsieh said.
Hsieh said his campaign office had obtained information from different informants and would make it public once it had been verified, adding that some of the information provided "quite detailed information," including the card numbers.
Meanwhile, Hsieh vowed to set up an independent government agency, modeled on Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption if elected.
Hsieh said he would also push for the passage of a series of "Sunshine laws" to create a clean political climate and advocate judicial reform.
Additional reporting by staff writer
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS