Three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators filed a lawsuit against Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) yesterday, accusing him of concealing public documents by failing to disclose information on lawmakers who might hold US citizenship.
Ou, however, said he had spoken with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) shortly after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a response from the US on Monday and Wang had told him not divulge the information because the response was not as straight forward as expected.
It is against the law for ranking public servants to possess either foreign residency or citizenship.
In September, the ministry asked the US for help in determining if any lawmakers held permanent residency or citizenship after a Next Magazine report accused Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Diane Lee (李慶安) of being a US citizen.
Lee said her US citizenship was automatically revoked when she was sworn in as a Taipei City councilor in 1994.
After meeting with Wang, it was agreed that the ministry would not make the US response public until the US could give a clearer answer, Ou said. He said the ministry had already asked the US for clarification.
Wang confirmed yesterday that the initial information from the US showed that two lawmakers might have dual citizenship.
“He [Ou] said there were two legislators [whose nationality status might be problematic], but so far [the ministry] was unable to determine whether they possessed dual citizenship,” the speaker said, declining to reveal the identity of the legislators.
Wang said Ou had given him the response from the US, but he did not read the document because it was marked confidential.
“One of them reported having studied in the US, but not applying for PR [permanent residency]. It was impossible for the legislator to become a US citizen without having had PR first, so the legislator insisted that the result was absurd,” Wang said.
He said the legislature can only deal with the nationality status of current lawmakers, while former legislators should be dealt with by the judiciary.
He did not elaborate, but former Taiwan Solidarity Union lawmaker George Liu (劉寬平) said in June that he had filed an application to relinquish his US citizenship at the end of last year, but that the process was not yet complete.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
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