Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) yesterday accused more government officials in the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration of having obtained US green cards, naming National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起) and two Examination Yuan nominees.
Newly appointed Examination Yuan vice president Wu Chin-lin (伍錦霖), a former deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), is also applying for a green card, Kuan alleged yesterday during a question-and-answer session at the legislature.
The two other Examination Yuan nominees who Kuan accused of obtaining US green cards were Tsai Shih-yuan (蔡式淵) and Tsai Bih-hwang (蔡璧煌).
“Apparently there are still many government officials who don’t want to give up their green cards. Premier Liu [Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄)], you have to do a thorough check of their backgrounds,” she said.
The current Nationality Law (國籍法) only bars government officials from holding dual citizenship. There are no regulations governing officials who posses foreign residency cards.
In response to Kuan, Liu yesterday said those four were “not his Cabinet members” and so he would not be able to run background checks on them.
“I am not an immigration lawyer, but I trust them,” he said.
Kuan showed placards with the greed card numbers of the four officials. She also claimed that Executive Yuan Secretary-General Hsueh Hsiang-chuan’s (薛香川) US green card is still valid.
Hsueh had previously argued that his US green, which he obtained in the 1970s, had become invalid because he did not return regularly to the US as required by US law and used US tourist visas instead of his green card to enter the US.
Liu yesterday defended his Cabinet team and promised to ask members who were found to still enjoy permanent residency in other countries to either leave his team or give up the permanent residency.
“I believe that we have handled [the permanent residency] issue well,” Liu said. “Those who are problematic were appointed by the former government.”
Ma’s administration has come under fire from the opposition over the foreign residency issue, with some legislators questioning the loyalty of officials who hold foreign residency status.
The issue came under the spotlight after Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) apologized for obtaining a US green card in 2005 when he was serving as the nation’s ambassador to Guatemala. He said he had officially given up his green card one month before assuming his current position on May 20.
The Presidential Office also unveiled the result of its own investigation into senior office officials on June 9. At the time it said its investigation found that NSC adviser Chan Man-jung (詹滿容) has a green card, but has promises to relinquish it. NSC Deputy Secretary-General Ho Szu-yin (何思因) and Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Kao Lang (高朗) held Canadian maple cards, but gave them up before taking office.
When the Presidential Office made the results public, however, it did not name Su.
When contacted by the Taipei Times last night, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said Su obtained a green card in 1979 while studying in the US, but that he relinquished the card voluntarily in 1988 by filling out the required form while traveling through Los Angeles airport.
Wang said the Presidential Office was conducting checks on Wu and the two Examination Yuan candidates and would make results public as soon as possible.
Additional reporting by CNA
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