A number of student groups and pro-localization organizations yesterday joined forces to form the Taiwan Protection Legislative Action Group to support the drafting of an “anti-united front act.”
As the US, Canada, the EU and Australia have proposed legislation to counter Chinese espionage, Taiwan, the primary target of China’s “united front” tactics, should also adopt such legislation, Taiwan Radical Wings chairman Chen Yi-chi (陳奕齊) told a news conference in Kaohsiung.
The coalition said that it has already translated two pieces of Australian legislation on countering foreign interference.
Photo: CNA
It extended an invitation to all sectors to draft a similar bill, which it said should prioritize the handling of disinformation, acts of espionage and alleged “agents” of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Taiwan.
Representatives of the member groups present at the news conference all voiced support for such measures, with Chen saying that the bill would provide the means to handle new threats to national security.
Pro-unification media in Taiwan have been abusing freedom of speech and undermining the nation’s democracy, Southern Taiwan Society director Weng Ming-chang (翁銘章) said, calling on the Democratic Progressive Party administration to draft legislation to counter foreign interference as soon as possible.
Evidence that has surfaced of Chinese attempts to take over Facebook groups and spread disinformation are worrying young people, said Liu Heng-wei (劉恆溦), president of 02 Group, a National Cheng Kung University student club.
“When the enemy has guns and artillery aimed at you, there is no room for hesitation,” Liu said.
Such legislation would show the international community that Taiwan is not a part of China, National Cheng Kung University Department of Taiwanese Literature professor Taifallo Chiung (蔣為文) said.
Foreign disinformation in Taiwan has reached levels that cannot be ignored, said Lin Wen-chi (林玟圻), a member of Free Takao, a National Sun Yat-sen University student club, citing reports from the University of Gothenburg and Reporters Without Borders.
Author Wang Nan-chi (王南琦) called on the public to reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework and refuse to acknowledge the so-called “1992 consensus,” saying: “Xinjiang today could be Taiwan tomorrow.”
There is an apparent legal deficiency to counter Chinese interference in Taiwanese affairs and creating such legislation would demonstrate Taiwan’s resolve to fight a Chinese invasion, National Sun Yat-sen University student council president Lin Shang-yi (林尚義) and Protect Taiwanese Sovereignty Student Alliance founder Wu Che-wei (吳哲瑋) said.
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the CCP that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
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