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Taiwan
ChinaPolitics

Taiwanese warned over taking up political posts on mainland China

But cross-strait affairs agency says professor named as delegate to party congress has not broken the law because she is a mainland citizen

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Lu Li-an, 49, was born and educated in Taiwan but lives in Shanghai and has given up her Taiwanese nationality. Photo: Handout
Lawrence Chungin Taipei

Taipei’s cross-strait affairs agency has warned that any Taiwanese nationals serving in official, military and political posts on mainland China would be subject to penalties under the island’s law.

Chiu Chui-cheng, vice-chairman of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, made the remarks in a statement on Thursday after a Taiwan-born professor was named as a delegate to the Communist Party’s upcoming national congress.

But anyone who gave up their Taiwanese nationality to become a mainland citizen would not be in breach of the law if they took up such a post, Chiu said.

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Lu Li-an, 49, deputy dean of Fudan University’s College of Foreign Languages and Literature in Shanghai, courted controversy when she was elected as one of 2,287 delegates to attend the party congress that begins on October 18.

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Her role as a delegate was revealed by Economic Daily News on Wednesday, leading critics to accuse the government of turning a blind eye to the case.

The report cited sources from the Shanghai Taiwan Compatriots Friendship Association – of which Lu is president – as saying that Lu was one of 10 Taiwanese delegates to the party congress.

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