DPP Lawmaker Questions if Amendment Allows Chinese to Run for President; KMT Denounces Claim as Baseless

(CNA, Taipei, June 10, Reporter Wang Cheng-chung) Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu questioned if a proposed amendment to the Nationality Act by Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers could allow people from mainland China to run for president in Taiwan. KMT Caucus Secretary-General Lin Pei-hsiang stated today that this is baseless and incorrect information, pointing out that the President and Vice President Election and Recall Act already stipulates that persons from the Mainland Area who are permitted to enter the Taiwan Area may not register as candidates for president or vice president.

Following the recent dismissal of a public official with a mainland spouse background over issues with PRC nationality, KMT Legislator Fu Kun-chi proposed an amendment to the Nationality Act. It adds that for persons from the Mainland Area who have lawfully obtained household registration in the Taiwan Area, their eligibility to run for public office shall be governed by the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, and that Article 20 of the Nationality Act regarding the renunciation of nationality shall not apply.

DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu posted on Facebook on June 5, pointing out that the amendment to the Nationality Act proposed by Fu Kun-chi and others would result in allowing Chinese people to hold any public office in Taiwan, including running for president.

KMT Legislative Yuan Caucus Secretary-General Lin Pei-hsiang and Chief Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Yu-chen held a press conference at the KMT caucus office in the Legislative Yuan today. Lin pointed out that amending the Nationality Act would make it absolutely impossible for individuals from mainland China to run for president in Taiwan. This is because the President and Vice President Election and Recall Act already clearly states that those who have restored Republic of China (ROC) nationality, obtained ROC nationality through naturalization, or are persons from the Mainland Area or residents of Hong Kong or Macau permitted to enter the Taiwan Area, may not register as candidates for president or vice president.

Lin explained that the purpose of proposing the amendment to the Nationality Act is because the Ministry of the Interior's own interpretation of the political rights of mainland spouses has caused disputes over the application of the Nationality Act, the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China, and the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area. Therefore, the hope is to clarify the relationship of legal application through the amendment, avoid conflicts, and ensure legal consistency.

Lin stated that Japan and the Philippines are currently formally launching negotiations on the delimitation of the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf around the waters east of Taiwan. It is regrettable, he said, that when the nation's sovereignty and maritime rights are challenged, the ruling party is not striving to secure the position the ROC deserves, but is instead letting society spin its wheels daily in political rumors such as 'Is the KMT trying to let Chinese people run for president?'

Hsu Yu-chen pointed out that the KMT's proposal to amend the Nationality Act is to protect the dignity and legal rights of mainland spouses who have already settled in Taiwan. However, the DPP repeatedly demonizes these people and smears the legal amendment as a national security crisis. This is tearing Taiwanese society apart and treating families with mainland spouses as political sacrifices. (Editor: Hsieh Chia-chen) 1150610