The National Security Bureau (NSB) has listed files on allegedly politically motivated cases as “permanently classified,” thereby denying the Transitional Justice Commission access, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) said yesterday.
The Presidential Office should investigate whether the head of the NSB who approved the permanent classification of such documents abused their power, and to declassify or change the classification of the documents, he said.
During a meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee to review a draft political archives act, Tuan asked commission member Yeh Hung-ling (葉虹靈) whether it was having trouble obtaining documents from other agencies.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
While the commission has been successful for the most part, it has faced difficulty getting access to files from the NSB on 21 cases since August last year, Yeh said.
The cases included the 1980 murder of Lin I-hsiung’s (林義雄) mother and twin daughters while he was being detained in connection with the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident; the incident itself, which refers to the clash between security forces and protesters during a Dec. 10 pro-democracy demonstration organized by Formosa Magazine (美麗島雜誌) and widespread arrests in the aftermath of the protest; and the 1981 death of Carnegie Mellon University associate professor Chen Wen-chen (陳文成) one day after he was questioned by Taiwan Garrison Command staff.
The bureau has only given the commission access to files on the Lin family murders, Yeh said.
It has denied access to the remaining files on account that they were “permanently classified,” he said.
Article 12 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), which allows files on sources of national security-related intelligence to remain permanently classified, does not apply to the cases mentioned by Yeh, Tuan said.
“Sources of national security-related intelligence” refers to intelligence officers who collect information on other nations, he said.
Giving a hypothetical example, he said an investigator working undercover at Formosa Magazine would not have been considered a source of national security-related intelligence, the lawmaker said.
The act stipulates that information cannot be classified to conceal illegal behavior or administrative errors, or to cover up disreputable behavior by individuals or groups, he said.
If the Taiwan Garrison Command or any national security agencies broke the law in their handling of Chen’s case, the NSB cannot use this as reason to permanently classify the documents, he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers on the committee accused the DPP administration of using the draft political archives act to persecute their party.
National Development Council Minister Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) responded by saying that the draft act was not targeted at anyone.
The purpose of the proposed legislation is to objectively restore history, and to facilitate the publication and preservation of political documents, she said.
The proposed act would help efforts to achieve transitional justice, DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) said, adding that as many relevant documents are still in the KMT’s possession, there is an urgent need for the draft act.
According to the Executive Yuan’s draft of the act, political documents would be automatically declassified once their classification period expires or the conditions for declassification have been met.
Documents that have been classified for more than 30 years, with the exception of documents with a legal basis for classification, are to be declassified, the draft states.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS