Chinese spouse Li Zhenxiu. (File photo)
The nine-in-one election was launched in November. This time, 25 Chinese spouses registered to run. Four of them have not submitted the certificate of loss of origin, and 7 of them have submitted the certificate of loss of origin for less than 10 years. Officials familiar with the matter revealed that the middle spouse, Li Zhenxiu, has been deregistered for less than 10 years. According to Article 21 of the Cross-Strait Regulations, she cannot become a candidate for elected public office.
Li Zhenxiu announced her candidacy for mayor of Zhubei in August this year and claimed that "Zhubei is my firm choice." However, Li Zhenxiu only returned to China in March 2025 and gave up her local household registration. There are still doubts about her qualifications for the election, pending confirmation by the Hsinchu County Election Committee.
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25 successful candidates registered to run for election, 11 lost their place of origin and did not meet the requirements
Officials familiar with the matter pointed out today that in order to become a candidate for elected public office, a Chinese citizen must first obtain a Taiwanese household registration, cancel the Chinese household registration, and submit a deregistration certificate to the Immigration Department for 10 years. Only then will the status conversion to a single household registration be completed, and then the candidate can be registered as a candidate. The above is stipulated in Article 9-1 of the Cross-Strait People's Relations Regulations.
Officials explained that the election agencies and household registration agencies have now completed the sharing of information in this regard. In the past, the election agencies may only look at whether the candidates have a Taiwan ID card for the election, and did not check when they gave up their Chinese household registration. Now they must give up their Chinese household registration and obtain Taiwan household registration for 10 years. Starting this year, the election agency and the household registration unit will be connected, and the verification operation will be implemented.
Officials said that if a candidate has not given up his Chinese household registration or has given up his residence registration for less than 10 years, he is not allowed to register as a candidate for public office according to law, and the election and civil affairs agencies will carry out verification. Take the middle partner Li Zhenxiu as an example. Before she gave up her Chinese household registration, she registered as a candidate for the non-district legislator. Later, when the government conducted a special investigation, she completed the registration through re-registration. In this case, she was deregistered less than 10 years ago.
Officials further stated that in accordance with Article 21 of the Cross-Strait Regulations, "People from the Mainland Area who enter the Taiwan Area with permission cannot register as candidates for public office unless they have maintained a household registration in Taiwan for 10 years, unless otherwise provided by law." Li Zhenxiu's situation does not meet the regulations because she gave up her Chinese household registration less than 10 years ago, which means she cannot run for election.
Officials pointed out that after the cross-strait regulations were amended in 2004, Chinese immigrants had to give up their Chinese household registration in order to obtain Taiwanese household registration. The Immigration Department keeps a record of the time when each successful candidate gave up, and the relevant information will be shared with the Winning Selection Committee for verification to meet the requirements of Article 21 of the Cross-Strait Regulations.
If the successful candidate is elected, will he have to give up his nationality of the People's Republic of China? Officials said that according to the Nationality Law, after being elected to public office, one must renounce foreign nationality, including Chinese nationality. According to the current regulations, there is a one-year buffer period, and you must work very hard to give up your Chinese nationality. If you are unable to give up your Chinese nationality, you may not be able to serve as an elected public official according to the relevant provisions of the Nationality Law. At that time, it will be determined by the Ministry of the Interior.
