Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) plan to appeal the Presidential Office’s decision to extend restrictions on their visits to China for two more years, they said yesterday.
The decision was “completely unjustified and designed to humiliate” given that neither he nor Wu had contravened the National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) or leaked confidential information, Ma said at a news conference at the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) headquarters in Taipei.
The Presidential Office informed the men on Friday — two days before their existing three-year travel restrictions were due to expire — that the restrictions had been extended to May 19, 2021.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Under amendments to the National Security Information Protection Act passed on Friday, agencies that handle confidential information can add up to three years to an existing three-year travel restriction on former officials who had been entrusted with state secrets.
During that period, the former officials must seek approval from the pertinent agencies before traveling to China.
Article 26 of the act stipulates that responsible agencies can extend the restrictions “depending on the situation,” but the notice from the Presidential Office did not explain what situation led to its decision, Ma said.
“Have I broken any law or leaked any confidential information? Is it necessary to leave the country if I wanted to leak information? What time do you come from if you think that way? Why is it two years, not one year, or three years?” he said.
The decision was “arbitrary” and targeted certain individuals, he said.
He would obey, but to protect their rights, he and Wu would appeal the decision, Ma said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should explain the rationale for the extension, and they are willing to meet with her at the Presidential Office if she has any doubts about them, he said.
Wu said that the KMT had always prioritized the rights and interests of the Republic of China (ROC) when it was the ruling party.
“Now that we have stepped down, why would we want to leak state secrets? That is just impossible. We love our country,” he said.
The act has been inappropriately and unfairly applied to them and the Presidential Office should immediately correct the mistake, he said.
Asked if the KMT-Chinese Communist Party forum planned for next month would be canceled, Wu said the party had applied for approval for him to visit China before the act was amended.
Tsai yesterday told reporters during a visit to Kaohsiung that the act applied to the former Ma administration and would apply to her own after she leaves office.
The decision “was not targeted at specific individuals,” she said, adding the higher a former official’s rank, the longer the restrictions.
Additional reporting by CNA
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