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Despite the controversy, Mr Ma remains a heavy favorite to win the March 22 presidential election. -- PHOTO: AP
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TAIPEI - THE Taiwanese presidential front-runner's past residency status in the United States has become a top election issue, with his opponent charging that he tried to cover it up and questioning his loyalty to the island.
Ma Ying-jeou did not tell the whole truth about his efforts to secure permanent US residency for himself and his family, the camp of ruling Democratic Progressive Party candidate Frank Hsieh claimed on Wednesday.
On Monday, Ma, the Nationalist candidate, acknowledged that he and his wife once held permanent residency status in the US but insisted it had since lapsed.
He said it did not affect his loyalty to Taiwan and was obtained in 1977 to give him the opportunity to work in the United States.
The admission came after Mr Ma, a former Taipei mayor, had earlier declared that he did not have a US residency card.
On Wednesday, Mr Hsieh's spokesmen Sky Chao accused Mr Ma of not telling the complete truth and of planning to seek US citizenship.
Obtaining permanent residency status 'is the prelude to becoming a US national', he said. 'Why did he obtain (the status) when the country was at a critical time?'
Mr Chao was referring to Taiwan's delicate diplomatic situation in the late 1970s, just before the United States transferred its official recognition from the island to mainland China, from which Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949.
Responding to his comments, Mr Ma said that although some family members - including his sisters - had US citizenship, his own feelings for Taiwan remained strong.
'Although (my sisters) have US passports, they love Taiwan,' he said. 'My own loyalty to Taiwan does not have a problem.'
Despite the controversy, Mr Ma remains a heavy favorite to win the March 22 presidential election. A public opinion poll by television station TVBS gave him a 53 per cent to 26 per cent lead over Mr Hsieh - an erosion of three percentage points since the residency issue broke.
The poll of 1,073 people was conducted by telephone on Jan 29 and had a margin of error of three percentage points, TVBS said.
The winner of the election will succeed Chen Shui-bian, whose confrontational approach toward China is believed to have played a key role in the DPP's defeat by the Nationalists in legislative elections earlier this month.
Both men are considered to have a more moderate approach toward Beijing than Chen. -- AP
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