Lawmakers yesterday passed an amendment to the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例) which broadens the definition of criminal organizations, making it applicable when charging members of political parties that are controlled by criminal gangs or known to threaten public safety.
The act formerly defined criminal organizations as standing and for-profit organizations that engage in violence, coercion, fraud, extortion or any other actions punishable by a maximum prison term of five years or longer.
The amendment substitutes “and” with “or,” which effectively widened the definition of criminal groups, which no longer have to be “for-profit” to warrant indictment.
Photo provided by police
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇), who proposed the amendment, said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been covertly commanding Taiwanese criminal gangs to infiltrate demonstrations and protests, as well as cause social disorder.
The situation has worsened to the extent that it threatens national security, and he hopes that the legislation would solve those problems, he said.
The amendment includes a new stipulation against name-dropping: People who imply or claim that they are affiliated with criminal gangs or their members — through actions, words or any other means — to pressure others into selling their assets or shares, relinquishing proprietary rights, cooperating with urban renewal projects, purchasing goods or services, repaying a debt or agreeing to terms laid down during debt settlement negotiations face a maximum jail term of three years and a maximum fine of NT$3 million (US$100,027).
Those who contravene this stipulation are also to be punished even if the criminal gangs or gangsters they cited no longer exist.
To offer victims or witnesses of organized crime better protection, they can question or confront suspects via audio or video calls, the amendment stipulates, adding that victims or witnesses who are overseas can do so by seeking help at the nation’s representative offices.
In other developments, new changes were made to the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例) to enhance the safety of minors at amusement arcades and Internet cafes, as well as to prevent them becoming the subject of sexual exploitation.
Under the amendment, employees at amusement arcades and Internet cafes are now on a list of businesses whose occupants should proactively inform local police or prosecutors upon learning that a minor is under threat of sexual exploitation, including having nude photographs taken, being allowed to engage in prostitution or bar-hosting, being solicited or shown sexually explicit material.
The act now includes penalties for people who entice, trick, force or accommodate minors as a way to have them perform bar-hosting duties, such as at erotic karaoke bars or as escorts.
Offenders face a maximum jail term of one year and a maximum fine of NT$300,000.
Those who have minors perform bar-hosting through the use of violence, coercion, drugs or subterfuge face a jail term of between three and five years and a maximum fine of NT$1.5 million.
DPP Legislator Lee Li-feng (李麗芬), who initiated the amendment, said the renaming of the act from the Child and Youth Sexual Transaction Prevention Act (兒童及少年性交易防制條例) to the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act in 2015 was momentous, but it was not enough to avoid potential pitfalls facing minors.
The passage of the amendment was the fruit of collaboration between lawmakers, interest groups and academics, she said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique