Taiwan’s KMT seeks to change law to allow mainland China-born spouses to hold office
Current law requires elected officials to prove they renounced their former citizenship – which is impossible for those born on the mainland
At the centre is a KMT proposal to amend both the Nationality Act and the 1992 Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area.
Under the amendments, mainland-born spouses who have lived in Taiwan long enough to obtain local ID cards would not be barred from political participation simply because they could not provide proof they had renounced their mainland citizenship – something that is impossible to do in practice.
Beijing does not issue the necessary documents because it considers Taiwan as part of China and views the island’s residents as its own citizens.
The push gained momentum after a high-profile case in which Teng Wan-hua, a mainland-born village chief in Hualien county, was removed from office by the interior ministry for failing to produce documents proving she had renounced her previous citizenship.