The Legislative Yuan has completed a preliminary review of draft amendments to the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法) aimed at addressing repeat drunk driving as well as the spreading of disinformation by military personnel.
The draft amendments, which were sponsored by the Executive Yuan and lawmakers across party lines and are expected to pass a third reading on Tuesday, would increase penalties for military personnel who are caught driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol within five years of an earlier DUI conviction, bringing the punishment in line with that for civilians.
The draft amendments stipulate a prison term of five years to life for military personnel who are on parole or probation and are convicted of a second DUI, while those who severely injure others as a result of their drunk driving would face jail time of three to five years.
Personnel found driving military vehicles or those assigned to them by the government for work while under the influence of alcohol would face 1.5 times the original penalties, the draft amendments say.
The code currently stipulates that military personnel charged with a DUI face a maximum jail term of two years, while those who severely or fatally injure others as a result of driving drunk would receive prison terms of one to seven years or three to 10 years respectively.
It does not contain rules against repeat infractions.
The Cabinet has also sponsored amendments to the code aimed at clamping down on disinformation originating from the military, which are also expected to be passed into law on Tuesday.
Under existing rules, military personnel who spread rumors about the military that can be proved false face a maximum jail term of three years, detention or a fine of up to NT$300,000.
The draft amendments aim to hold those who relay such rumors accountable and would introduce the same penalties for them.
As the dissemination of misinformation is often conducted through the Internet, the Cabinet has also proposed an addendum to the code stipulating that people who spread military disinformation through radio and TV broadcasts, electronic communications or over the Internet would face 1.5 times the original penalties.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
RSS