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
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) yesterday authorized the execution of convicted murderer Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), the first death row prisoner to be put to death since President William Lai (賴清德) took office. Huang was to be executed via a firing squad yesterday evening, which would leave Taiwan with 36 convicts on death row. Huang on Oct. 1, 2013, broke into his ex-girlfriend Wang Ping-chih’s (王品智) residence in New Taipei City, where he raped and murdered Wang. He also killed Wang’s mother. Huang was bitter over the breakup and her accusation that he had stolen NT$200,000 (US$6,074) from her bank account, prosecutors said
RSS