Taipei Mayor Says U.S.-Citizen Son Is Taiwanese and Was Legally Enrolled in Local Schools

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an has rejected claims that his U.S.-citizen son, Chiang Te-li, should be treated as an overseas Chinese student or received special treatment in school admissions.

Chiang said his son “is Taiwanese and a Republic of China national.” He said the boy attended kindergarten, elementary school and junior high in Taipei under that status, then entered high school after passing the standard examination.

The mayor also defended his son’s enrollment at the affiliated junior high school of National Taiwan Normal University. He said the household registration fully met student-registration requirements and complied with school-district rules, making the enrollment lawful.

Questions intensified after Yin Wei, head of Taipei City’s Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, said on a radio program that the Ministry of Education’s K-12 Education Administration was checking whether Chiang Te-li qualified as an overseas Chinese student. Critics have also raised questions about an earlier transfer from Fuxing and about the timing of household registration requirements for the affiliated school.

Chiang repeated that the relevant registration and district rules had been followed and that the family had complied with the law. The issue was discussed as he spoke to reporters before appearing for questioning at the Taipei City Council.

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He is Taiwanese and a Republic of China national.