Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Diane Lee (李慶安) yesterday apologized to the public for the trouble caused by her dual-citizenship controversy.
“In my case, it is merely a problem of legal definition and I believe that prosecutors will prove my innocence. But this case has damaged the KMT’s image and I have betrayed my supporters’ trust as I had to resign my legislative seat. For that, I apologize,” she said as she reported to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for a closed-door investigative hearing.
Lee stopped in front of the prosecutors’ office to answer questions prior to the hearing yesterday morning.
She said she had worked hard as a civil servant over the past decade and now she would do her best to help prosecutors investigate her case, while insisting on her innocence.
When asked if she would return her income from her single term as a Taipei City councilor in 1994 and her three terms as a lawmaker from 1998 — estimated at more than NT$100 million (US$3 million) — Lee refused to comment.
The issue first came to light last March when Next Magazine reported that Lee still possessed a US passport.
The Nationality Act (國籍法) prohibits government officials from holding dual nationality and requires that those who are dual citizens give up their foreign citizenship before assuming office.
Just last month, Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office received official confirmation from the US Department of State that said that Lee’s US citizenship was still valid.
She resigned from the KMT in December and gave up her position as a legislator last month.
Last Friday, the Central Election Commission revoked its declaration of Lee’s election as a member of the seventh Taipei City Council and of the fourth, fifth and sixth Legislative Yuans and annulled all relevant election certificates she received from 1994 to 2005, after determining that she held US citizenship during that period.
In response to Lee’s comments, KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) urged Lee to assume legal responsibility for the controversy.
“Since the US has proved that Lee’s US citizenship remains valid, there would be a negative impact on Lee if she continued to deny [the charges],” Lo said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) said Lee’s refusal to return the salary she received during her tenure as a Taipei City councilor and legislator indicated she did not regret what she had done.
Lai reiterated his request that prosecutors clear up the scandal soon and the legislature formally relieve Lee of her position as a legislator.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG, RICH CHANG AND CNA
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street, a neighboring apartment building tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the site with water to stabilize the groundwater level and then added dirt and cement to stabilize
RSS