Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday defended himself against criticism from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that he was trying to shield Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Diane Lee (李慶安) from questions over her US citizenship status.
The Nationality Act (國籍法) stipulates that anyone holding foreign citizenship is barred from serving as a public official in Taiwan.
Wang, a KMT member, said he did not have the authority to determine Lee’s qualifications as a lawmaker until a resolution empowering him to do so has been passed in the legislature’s plenary session.
“I do not have the authority without the resolution. If I did, I would already have taken care of the matter. I wouldn’t have waited until everyone expressed concerns about it,” Wang said.
The Nationality Act states that the legislature has the authority to relieve any lawmaker with dual citizenship from duty, but it does not specify whether the speaker can make the decision alone or whether a resolution by the plenary session is required.
The Chinese-language Next Magazine had reported that Lee possessed US citizenship and said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had received confirmation about this from the US, a claim the ministry denied on Wednesday.
Lee denied that she held US citizenship and threatened to sue the magazine. She had said previously that she obtained permanent residency in the US in 1985 and citizenship in 1991, but later gave up her US citizenship after becoming a public official.
The DPP caucus reported Lee’s case to the Taipei Prosecutors’ Office for investigation in March.
If the allegation is proven to be true, she would be forced to return the salary she received as a Taipei City councilor from 1994 to 1998 and as a legislator since 1998, an amount estimated at NT$100 million (US$3.29 million).
Wang said yesterday that the legislature had referred two related proposals — one by the DPP to investigate the nationality status of all lawmakers and the other by the KMT that would include all government officials — to cross-party negotiation.
He said that the legislature would process Lee’s case as soon as the judiciary completes the investigation.
Meanwhile, Lee was absent from the legislature yesterday but issued a statement rebutting the allegation again.
“I think these people who have raised the question again and again do not understand the [US] law at all,” she said, adding that she would leave the matter to the judiciary to resolve.
At a press conference yesterday, the DPP caucus said Lee had never produced official documentation proving that she had abandoned her US citizenship.
“The Nationality Law stipulates that a civil servant who has been in possession of foreign citizenship must present an official document within one year of being sworn in that proves he or she has abandoned the foreign citizenship,” DPP deputy caucus whip Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) said. “But she [Lee] never did.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JIMMY CHUANG
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS