A proposed anti-infiltration bill would crack down on acts of infiltration, rather than target certain people, while agencies would not “punish” offenders, but lodge lawsuits against them, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said yesterday.
Chen made the remarks at the weekly Cabinet meeting.
The opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) this week has dubbed the bill “green terror,” “thought censorship” and an attempt to reinstate martial law.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The bill defines acts of infiltration by integrating provisions from existing laws — including the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法), the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法), the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), the Referendum Act (公民投票法), the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) and the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) — and strengthens regulations covering infractions that constitute infiltration, Chen said.
The bill would not target people, nor would it give agencies the right to punish offenders, he said, adding that it would instead give agencies the authority to file lawsuits against those who have allegedly committed infractions.
The nation’s three-tiered judicial system would decide whether a defendant is guilty and what their penalty would be, he said.
The council believes a bill to crack down on infiltration is necessary, Chen said, citing Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) speech on Jan. 2, which Chen said revealed China’s plan to annex Taiwan through infiltration, “united front” tactics and so-called “democratic negotiations.”
China’s growing economic power has intensified its influence in other nations and several democracies — including the US, the UK and Australia — have introduced legislation against infiltration, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said.
The nation is at the center of Chinese infiltration and needs an anti-infiltration act more than any other nation, he said.
The bill would not affect law-abiding citizens working or studying in China, Su said, adding that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should allay the public’s concerns through extensive dialogue.
Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said that Chinese meddling in the nation’s elections started many years before the bill was introduced, when asked by a reporter with the Chinese-language China Times whether the Executive Yuan thinks five days is long enough for “extensive dialogue with the public” — as the DPP-controlled Legislative Yuan has scheduled the bill’s final review on Tuesday next week.
Taiwanese have long discussed Chinese infiltration, she said, adding that the bill was sponsored by lawmakers, not the Executive Yuan, reflecting the anxiety and concern of their constituents.
Yesterday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) softened his stance against the bill, saying that he is “not against it.”
On Wednesday, Gou had said that he would launch a “Sunflower movement 2019” and sleep at the Legislative Yuan if the DPP insisted on passing the bill on Tuesday next week.
The tycoon yesterday said that he was not opposed to the legislation, adding that his previous remarks were meant to convey his hope that the legislative process would be open and transparent.
Additional reporting by CNA
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
RSS