Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) on Wednesday said she would work “cautiously” with the legislature to ascertain whether Chinese spouse and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) member Lee Zhen-hsiu (李貞秀) could qualify and serve as a lawmaker.
During a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee, Liu was asked about Lee’s legal eligibility for office by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Po-yee (李柏毅).
Lee Zhen-hsiu was placed 15th on the TPP’s list of legislators-at-large in the Jan. 13 elections.
Photo: Taipei Times
Although the TPP won only eight seats, the party has pledged to rotate out its lawmakers after two years, meaning that candidates Nos. 9 to 16 on the list, including Lee, could enter the legislature in 2026.
Liu said that according to Article 20 of the Nationality Act (國籍法), Republic of China nationals who hold citizenship in another country must renounce it in order to hold public office.
When lawmakers are inaugurated, they are required to sign an affidavit on whether they have foreign citizenship, she said.
If they do, they are then required to submit documents showing they have renounced their foreign citizenship within one year of taking office, Liu said, citing a document the Ministry of the Interior sent to the legislature in 2009 detailing how the law would be enforced.
If the legislator does not renounce their foreign citizenship within one year, their credentials would be revoked under the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Liu said.
The issue becomes more complicated when it comes to Chinese citizens, due to the status of cross-strait issues under Taiwanese law.
The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) refers only to the “household registrations” of people in the two areas, not to citizenship.
People’s Republic of China (PRC) citizens who meet all other eligibility requirements can apply for Republic of China (ROC) citizen after annulling their PRC household registration.
They can then register as candidates for public office 10 years after being naturalized, as Lee Zhen-hsiu did.
Lee Po-yee said that China could agree to revoke Lee Zhen-hsiu’s household registration, but not her Chinese citizenship, in which case the interior ministry would have to be cautious in reviewing her eligibility as a legislator.
“This is something you would have to ask a Chinese national,” Liu said. “As far as the Nationality Act and the Constitution are concerned, a citizen’s loyalty has to be to the ROC, and not some other country.”
“The Ministry of the Interior will work with the Legislative Yuan with caution to resolve this issue,” she added.
Liu and Lee Po-yee noted that Taiwan has a precedent in a similar case, but it involved US, and not Chinese, citizenship.
They were likely referring to former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Lee Ching-an (李慶安), who was revealed in a March 2008 Next Magazine report to also be a US citizen.
Despite initially disputing the claims, Lee Ching-an resigned from the legislature in January 2009.
The Central Election Commission revoked her status as an elected official the following month.
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