Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) yesterday said that 15 lawmakers have co-signed his proposal to lengthen the prison terms of incumbent or retired National Security Bureau (NSB) officers found guilty of leaking state secrets.
The proposed amendments to the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法) would increase by half the sentences of NSB intelligence officers and other personnel convicted of leaking national secrets either during their active service or within a year of their retirement, he said.
At present, the act stipulates a prison sentence of three to 10 years for handing secrets to a foreign power, and one to 12 years for secretly collecting information on behalf of a foreign power, he said.
Those penalties must be stepped up to increase their deterrence value, in light of the mounting threat of China-directed foreign espionage activity in Taiwan, especially those aiming to compromise the bureau, he said.
Enhanced sentencing is justified by the fact that bureau officials and support staff have access to secret information that far exceeds that of the general public and by their confidentiality clause, which remains applicable after retirement, he said.
To protect the bureau from infiltration by compromised recruits, the proposed amendments would require mandatory security assessments of candidates immediately after the completion of the initial qualification examination, he said
The practice of vetting candidates after they have completed training is a potential vulnerability that hostile powers could exploit to gain insight into the bureau’s operational methods and procedures, he said.
Moreover, eliminating candidates after they have completed their training is a waste of resources and such decisions are routinely contested by candidates in court, giving rise to unnecessary legal expenses, he said.
Security vetting is conducted to ensure that intelligence officers’ loyalty and integrity are untainted by enemy measures and that they are above allowing personal factors to influence the conduct of intelligence operations, he said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)