President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday he would resign immediately if Chinese National-ist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) could provide legal documents proving that his green card had been invalidated years ago.
Chen put his presidency at stake in an interview with Formosa TV last night.
If Ma's green card remains valid, he should give it up by completing all the legal procedures, the president said.
In a televised campaign platform presentation on Friday, Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) also said he was willing to apologize and withdraw from the race if Ma could prove that his green card was invalidated 20 years ago.
Ma's US green card status has been a subject of controversy and attacks by Hsieh's campaign.
When Hsieh first raised the issue in late January, Ma initially responded by saying he did not have a green card, but later conceded that he possessed one in 1977 to help him obtain student loans and employment after graduation. He claimed it was automatically invalidated in 1985 when he applied for a visa to travel to the US.
Hsieh said Ma has yet to provide proof to back his claims, adding that he believed Ma still holds a valid green card because he never completed an I-407 form to relinquish his permanent residency nor has a US immigration court invalidated his card.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A mountain blaze that broke out yesterday morning in Yangmingshan National Park was put out after five hours, following multi agency efforts involving dozens of fire trucks and helicopter water drops. The fire might have been sparked by an air quality sensor operated by the National Center for High-Performance Computing, one of the national-level laboratories under the National Applied Research Laboratories, Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters said. The Taipei City Fire Department said the fire, which broke out at about 11am yesterday near the mountainous Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) Recreation Area was extinguished at 4:32pm. It had initially dispatched 72 personnel in four command vehicles, 16