Watching the coverage for the election, a few questions come to mind...
1) How many Taiwanese hold foreign passports and also have citizenship in Taiwan?
Technically this is illegal since Taiwanese and citizens of countries such as America are not allowed to hold more than one passport.
In reality, authorities seem to loook the other way about this but it does sometimes ignite political trouble if officials and their families do this. It becomes a question of loyalty. But let's be honest, people of all colors do this.
And why do they do it? Well, there's an expression in Chinese: "A cunning rabbit has three (burrow) holes." That is to say, make sure you have a few escape options should something happen.
In the end, it's kind of a game deciding which passport to use upon entry into Taiwan. Boys have to be particularly careful what they do in order to avoid being enlisted in the military.
2) How many people will give up their votes because they will not return to the place of their household registration?
Taiwanese, according to the law, cannot vote by proxy, that is, distance vote from places other than the place they are registered. The impact of this is a mass pre-election movement of people back to their original homes.
The north of Taiwan has a distinct political advantage due to this since many people gravitate to cities like Taipei in order to get jobs or to live. As the northerners most likely stay put, they are more likely to vote. These days the north is predominantly Blue (KMT).
The southerners have two choices: return home or stay put. If they stay put (to save the time or money or both returning), they lose their vote. If this happens in large numbers, it could have an impact on the election.
6 comments:
I know a few people who are from Changhua who are in Danshui...who won't go home because it is "too far". In my American mentality, three and a half hours isn't that far for the future of your country, but that is me.
I believe it will have a large impact. And, not only this, but think about the Taiwanese overseas. Almost all the Taiwanese at my college (50 total Taiwanese exchange students) would have voted 謝, so that is in the upwards of 35+ votes for him that are missed.
Any understanding of why this is? I really think an "absentee ballot" type thing would be very good for Taiwan, but, and here is my bias, the KMT would probably disagree with such a measure (as it would, definitely, put traditionally DPP regions in a higher position than they are now).
I'm pretty sure it isn't illegal for Taiwanese to hold dual nationality - you have to give up citizenship when becoming Taiwanese, but I don't believe there's any law about Taiwanese gaining another citizenship.
One big group you didn't mention is the (million?) Taiwanese businessmen in China - who have to fly back to vote, and are by and large pro-KMT.
The rule about having to vote in person does disenfranchise some, but is (I think) necessary at the moment. Postal/proxy/absentee voting are an invitation to fraud - and you really need a system which is hard to game (and can be seen as being hard to game) in Taiwan at the moment. Remember the accusations by Lien Chan of cheating from 4 years ago? The system held up really well against all that - but I bet it wouldn't have with postal voting ...
It is not illegal for Americans to hold dual-passports. The American passport specifically has a disclaimer in the passport for those who hold two.
Can someone confirm or deny whether it is illegal or illegal to hold citizen in two countries for both Americans and/or Taiwanese?
It would be helpful to have a web apge reference with some authority.
If this is the case, I stand corrected in my comments.
Perhaps I have been believing what I have only heard from others (numerous times) but have never confirmed directly. This can happen a lot when living in Taiwan...
If dual citizenship is indeed legal then it's really hard to see why Taiwanese make this such an issue of loyalty come election time.
it is not illegal to be a dual citizen in either Taiwan or the US The distinction lies in those taking public office. In Taiwan, it is against the law for any holder of a foreign passport, even if they also have a Taiwan one, to hold public office. I think that is why Hsiao Bi-khim gave up her US citizenship (mother was American), and why the KMT will be in hot water if it turns out Diane Lee is still a US citizen.
The DPP should really be careful how far it pushes the green card game, though. Do they really expect us to believe none of its candidates have/have had green cards?
The all-knowing wikipedia ;-p seems to state that dual citizenship is not illegal for US citizens:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_nationality_law#Dual_citizenship
As for guys having to be careful about military enlistment, that only becomes a problem if you enter with your Taiwan passport and stay for longer than 3 or 4 months at a time I believe. And it's no longer a concern if you're over 36. =)
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