TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Lawmakers representing the TPP held a press conference at the Executive Yuan on Friday to clarify matters related to legislator Lee Chen-hsiu (李貞秀), who is reported to have Chinese nationality.
On Thursday, the Minister of the Mainland Affairs Council Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said that Lee is not qualified to legally remain in office due to discrepancies related to the date she canceled her household registration in Hunan, China. On Friday, Lee and the TPP held a press conference to clarify matters to the public, reported CNA.
According to Lee, she renounced her Chinese nationality in 1999 and obtained household registration in Taiwan the same year. However, relevant regulations governing cross-strait relations were only introduced in 2004, per UDN.
Further, the document allegedly certifying Lee's denaturalization was only issued in March 2025. According to the law governing relations between Taiwan and China, former Chinese citizens must be registered as a Taiwan national for 10 years before they can hold public office, and may not hold dual nationality during that time.
Since certification of Lee renouncing her Chinese citizenship was only issued last year, she does not meet the requirement for election to public office in Taiwan.
However, Lee said that when she registered to be a non-district legislator with the TPP in 2025, she received a letter from the National Immigration Bureau asking to verify that she had renounced her Chinese household registration. She said she complied with the request and had the documents notarized in Hunan.
Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chair Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said that in 1999, regulations did not require cancellation of household registration. Liang also said the document Lee submitted is different from others who have renounced Chinese household registration and does not indicate any earlier date of denaturalization, reported UDN.
The Ministry of Interior said it is concerned that Lee is a security risk, and that her access to classified files as a legislator should be restricted. Earlier this week, Speaker of the Legislative Yuan Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) rejected a request by the DPP caucus to remove Lee from her seat in the Legislative Yuan.
