Taiwan’s smaller opposition party, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), is poised to undertake a major legislative reshuffle in February because its six lawmakers will resign due to self-enforced term limits. Among the planned replacements is Li Chen-Hsiu (李貞秀), who, if she assumes a legislative seat on February 1, would be become the first Chinese citizen to serve in Taiwan’s parliament.
Li is a “mainland spouse,” the Taiwanese term for a person born in China who obtains long-term residency by marrying a Taiwanese citizen. Her impending appointment to the legislature has raised concern in Taiwan, which faces growing Chinese efforts to influence the country from within.
“The law says that legislators cannot hold dual citizenship. Is it that difficult to abide by the law?” Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said in a Facebook post in response to the news.
The controversy stems from a contradiction in existing Taiwanese laws. A 1992 law says that mainland spouses who have held household registration in Taiwan for more than 10 years are eligible to run for public office. The Nationality Act of 1929, however, stipulates that elected officials must renounce foreign citizenship within one year of taking office.
Li, who was born in China’s Hunan province in 1973 and established residency in Taiwan in 1993, clears the first legal hurdle, but not the second. And she has shown no intention of renouncing her Chinese citizenship, a move that would have to be approved by China’s Ministry of Public Security.
Li cited an article in the constitution that authorizes laws governing relations between “people of the Chinese mainland area” and “those of the free area.” She argued that, from the perspective of the Republic of China, “the mainland is not a foreign region,” meaning she is not a foreigner in Taiwan, and thus checked the box for “no dual citizenship” when registering for the at-large legislature election. The Republic of China is the name of the state commonly known today as Taiwan which before 1949 encompassed the whole of China.
Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳), from the DPP, said that the law targets all foreign nationals outside the Republic of China. “It would be strange if the law were specifically amended for spouses of mainland Chinese citizens. This is a very privileged clause.”
Taiwan in recent years has closely monitored Chinese spouses who gain residency through marriage to Taiwanese citizens for national security risks, revoking residency permits or imposing prison sentences on those accused of advocating for the unification of Taiwan and China, united front work, or spreading content that threatens social stability. United front work is a political strategy of the Chinese Communist Party that works with and co-opts people who are not members of the party to influence other countries’ policy toward China.
The government announced that, as of December 26, among the 12,146 Chinese spouses notified to submit supplementary documents, only 278 of them have not yet submitted their Chinese household registration cancellation documents because Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, the government agency in Taiwan responsible for China affairs, has not been able to reach them.
Taiwan has so far revoked the residency permits of four mainland spouses. These include influencer “Guan Guan” (關關), who posted content on a Chinese social media site calling for China to eliminate Taiwan’s sovereignty. Her residency was revoked and she moved back to China. Another mainland spouse, Zhou Manzhi (周滿芝), faces eight years in prison under Taiwan’s National Security Act after being convicted of leading a pro-Beijing immigrant group under united front direction.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Taiwan’s main opposition party, plans to propose amendments to the Nationality Act to allow Chinese spouses to participate in Taiwan’s government without legal restrictions.
The TPP has pointed out that its at-large list for legislators was approved by the Central Election Commission. TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) initially criticized the government for its handling of Li’s case but backtracked after learning that Li has not renounced her Chinese citizenship.
A spokesperson for China’s State Council Taiwan Affairs Office accused the DPP of “arbitrarily infringing” on the rights of mainland spouses in Taiwan due to its “Taiwan independence” agenda.”
Update: We have updated the format of this person’s name from Li Zhenxiu to Li Chen-Hsiu, the format that is used on her Legislative Yuan page
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