00:00Taiwan's three major political parties came together on Wednesday to try to figure out how to deal with what's become
00:06a very controversial issue.
00:08Last month, for the first time ever, a Chinese citizen took office as a legislator in Taiwan.
00:15Chinese-born Li Zhenxiu is now a legislator with the Taiwan People's Party.
00:20She's lived in Taiwan for over 30 years and has a Taiwanese passport.
00:24But authorities say it's against the law for her to take office.
00:28First of all, Taiwan prohibits elected officials from having dual citizenship of any kind.
00:34Second, to run for office, Chinese citizens are required to prove they have canceled their Chinese household registration and have
00:41held Taiwanese household registration for 10 years, which the government also says Li hasn't fulfilled.
00:47Li disputes these points, saying she tried to give up her Chinese citizenship, but the Chinese government wouldn't let her.
00:54This seems to go back to the fact that China claims Taiwan as its territory and does not recognize it
01:00as a foreign state, so won't let nationals give up citizenship for Taiwanese status.
01:05Li also says she did fulfill the requirement of having Taiwanese household registration for 10 years.
01:11So, with all of these legal questions, the government has asked the legislature to find a way to deal with
01:16this issue.
01:17And they do have the power to remove her from office if they see fit.
01:21But today, they didn't manage to arrive at any kind of consensus.
01:25It's clear they're still very divided.
01:28There are several points that parties disagree on.
01:31But key is which of Taiwan's laws apply here.
01:34On the one hand, opposition parties say it should be a special law governing cross-strait issues.
01:53But on the flip side, there's the ruling party saying that under a different law, the Nationality Act,
01:59Li has not fulfilled the requirements for public office, and it's a matter of national security.
02:23Very different points of view on this issue and positions the parties don't seem to be budging on.
02:29And Taiwan's legislative speaker says that because of this lack of consensus
02:33and the fact that things are still being investigated and there's no court ruling as of now,
02:39they will respect Li's status as a legislator for now.
02:43Luffy Li, Devin Tsai, Isin Chen, and Caden's Quaranta for Taiwan Plus.
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