By Chen Yu-fu, Lin Che-yuan and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer
The Central Election Commission (CEC) reportedly plans to file a lawsuit to invalidate the election of Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator-at-large Li Zhenxiu (李貞秀) on the grounds that Li was ineligible to run for office under cross-strait law, a source said yesterday.
Li, who was sworn into office last month, was born in China, but has been living in Taiwan for more than 30 years and holds a Taiwanese passport.
However, there is disagreement as to whether she is eligible to serve, as she has not provided recognized proof of renouncing her Chinese citizenship and might have submitted proof of renouncing her Chinese household registration too late to register as a candidate.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Before a 2004 amendment to 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), spouses from China were required to submit proof that they had given up their Chinese residency within six months of the amendment’s promulgation, a source familiar with cross-strait law said on condition of anonymity.
However, Li had no record of submitting the document to the National Immigration Agency or the Straits Exchange Foundation before March last year, the source said.
Citing Article 21 of the act, the source said that naturalized Chinese spouses are only eligible to run for government office 10 years after they obtain Taiwanese citizenship.
The 10-year period begins after they submit proof of renouncing their Chinese residency, they said.
Li did not qualify to run in 2023, as she did not submit her papers before then, despite having been married to a Taiwanese since 1999, the source said.
The CEC at the time could not verify Li’s lack of qualification as it had only reviewed her national identification card and household registration data, they said.
However, household registration data do not state when the person renounced their Chinese citizenship, they added.
The government has also questioned whether Li is eligible to serve, given that the Nationality Act (國籍法) stipulates those who hold other nationalities are barred from holding public office.
The CEC yesterday said that it would resolve the Li case after a full committee can be convened.
The committee has only four sitting members, as the tenures of six members expired in November last year.
By law, at least five members are required to convene a session and the legislature has not yet ratified seven candidates proposed by the Executive Yuan.
If the committee believes Li’s election was invalid, it could not revoke Li’s status, but must file a lawsuit to invalidate her election.
TPP caucus director Vicky Chen (陳智菡) said that the issue highlights government officials’ ignorance of the law.
The Republic of China “does not recognize” the People’s Republic of China, she said, citing the Constitution.
Regulations on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are the same: If a person’s residency is to be annulled, their national identity papers, as well as their passport, would also be nullified, she said.
There could not be an issue of “dual citizenship,” she added.
Additional reporting by Chen Chih-cheng