TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A public servant in Hualien County was removed from her position as a village chief on Friday for failing to renounce her household registration in China.

Deng Wan-hua (鄧萬華), who was born in Sichuan, China, married a Taiwanese man 28 years ago. She was three years into a four-year term as head of Xuetian Village in Hualien’s Fuli Township when she was dismissed on orders from the Ministry of the Interior, UDN reported.

Earlier this year, the Mainland Affairs Council revealed that more than 70 public servants were among the 373,821 people in Taiwan with household registration in China. Citing national security concerns, the government ordered Chinese spouses to renounce their household registration across the strait.

The MOI reportedly sent a directive to Fuli Township in October 2024, instructing officials to cite the Nationality Act as grounds for Deng’s dismissal. Fuli Township Head Chiang Tung-cheng (江東成) said he disagreed with the ministry’s interpretation of the law but carried out the dismissal transparently, allowing the matter to be settled through litigation.

Chiang argued that the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, not the Nationality Act, should apply, and that the cited grounds were insufficient for removing an elected public servant. He also claimed he was threatened with investigation by the Control Yuan if he refused to proceed with Deng’s dismissal, per UDN.

After her removal, Deng said on social media that she would file a lawsuit to protest what she described as an unfair and unlawful dismissal. According to UDN, she is the first elected public servant in Taiwan to lose her post due to holding Chinese household registration.

Deng posted a photo of her Taiwanese passport online and stated she has never sought to return to China. She criticized the government’s decision, saying it was ideologically motivated rather than based on law.

She also noted that she is the sole caregiver for her husband, who was diagnosed with ALS six years ago, and that losing her job would significantly impact her family’s finances and her children’s education.

Hualien County confirmed Deng’s dismissal and said Fuli Township will appoint an interim village head in accordance with the Local Government Act.