TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Cabinet announced Thursday that nine local agencies have been referred to the Control Yuan for investigation after failing to enforce procedures regarding elected officials holding Chinese citizenship.
In May, the Cabinet referred five township and district offices to the Control Yuan for failing to process required discharges. These offices included Taipei’s Songshan District Office, New Taipei’s Tucheng and Zhonghe District Offices, Taoyuan’s Xinwu District Office, and Hualien County’s Fuli Township Office, according to CNA.
Under Article 20 of Taiwan’s Nationality Act, elected officials must renounce any foreign nationality within one year of taking office. Failure to comply results in dismissal.
The Cabinet said it has repeatedly urged local governments since late last year to enforce the law, emphasizing that borough chiefs with dual nationality must complete renunciation procedures within the statutory period. Despite these reminders, some local offices remained lax, and certain municipal governments did not provide adequate oversight.
Chieh Yu-chin (簡鈺珒), deputy head of the Cabinet’s Department of Civil Affairs, said township and district offices are responsible for removing officials holding Chinese citizenship. This limits the ministry's legal authority to intervene.
Chieh added that, despite multiple reminders, four borough chiefs have yet to complete the required discharges.
Fuli Township acted on Aug. 1, dismissing Deng Wan-hua (鄧萬華), former chief of Xuetian Village, leaving four offices that have yet to complete the procedures. Deng’s dismissal was recently overturned on appeal, though she was not reinstated.
Deputy Home Minister Wu Tang-an (吳堂安) stressed that it is the responsibility of each official to renounce any foreign nationality, noting that all elected officials in Taiwan must comply with the country's law.
The Taiwan FactCheck Center clarified that because Taiwan and China do not recognize each other as independent countries, naturalized spouses from China are not required to renounce Chinese nationality when obtaining Taiwanese citizenship, only to cancel their household registration. Spouses with other foreign nationalities, however, must renounce their original citizenship when obtaining Taiwanese citizenship, according to BBC.
The Control Yuan confirmed receipt of the Cabinet’s referral, saying it has consulted the agencies involved and forwarded their responses to relevant committees for further handling.
