Ma ‘never intended’ to hide green card

Ma has maintained that his green card is no longer valid because his application for a non-immigrant visa to go to America has automatically canceled his U.S. resident status.

But Hsieh has demanded Ma make public all relevant documents, including the non-immigrant visa, to show that he has really lost his U.S. permanent residency.

Results of a latest survey conducted by the TVBS satellite channel showed that 45 percent of the respondents did not think the green card issue would affect Ma’s campaign, while 27 percent said it would have slight impacts.

A total of 52 percent though Ma was honest, while 32 percent thought Hsieh was honest and the same percentage of respondents thought he was dishonest.

Ma’s support dropped three percentage points to 53 percent, while Hsieh’s support remained at 26 percent, the survey showed.

DPP legislative leader Ker Chien-ming likened the Ma case to the incident that dogged James Soong’s independent presidential campaign in 2000.

Soong was then alleged to have been involved in a financial crime, but he failed to provide a clear explanation to convince the nation that he was not involved, Ker claimed.

The DPP legislator said Ma is now also failing to clear all doubts hanging over his honesty.

“This incident is posing a challenge to Ma’s integrity and his management capability in general,” Ker said. “How can we trust him with the presidency?”

DPP Legislator Chiang Chao-yi questioned whether Ma had failed to file his tax returns with U.S. authorities after returning to Taiwan.

U.S. law requires all citizens and permanent residents declare all their overseas income, he said.

Ma’s spokesman Lo Chih-chiang maintained that the candidate’s green card is “invalid as a matter of fact.”

“The Hsieh campaign should stop playing up the loyalty issue. Holding a U.S. green card is different from U.S citizenship,” Lo said.

KMT Legislator Kuo Shu-chun said Ma is unquestionably loyal to Taiwan.

But she also demanded Hsieh explain some of increase in his wealth, as shown in his annual declaration.

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