The Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) plan to pass an anti-infiltration bill on Tuesday as scheduled after gauging public opinion, which favors the move, a source said yesterday.
The DPP administration hopes to pass a version of the bill on which it and opposition parties have the largest common ground following cross-caucus talks tomorrow, the source said.
Despite the four legislative caucuses on Friday managing to discuss only two of the bill’s 12 articles, without reaching a consensus, an Executive Yuan official, who requested anonymity, applauded the lawmakers’ decision to commence a clause-by-clause review.
A DPP official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the DPP caucus’ version of the bill would certainly undergo minor adjustments, particularly to the definition of “infiltration sources” and Article 2, which currently includes groups, organizations and agencies “supervised by” the government, affiliated organizations or any intermediary of an external hostile force.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) assigns officials to larger Chinese companies, some of which hire Taiwanese, but that does not mean these Taiwanese will collude with the CCP to infiltrate Taiwan, the official said, adding that changes would allay the concerns of Taiwanese working in Chinese firms.
However, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ proposal that the Executive Yuan regularly publish a list of sources of infiltration — purportedly to enable better enforcement of the legislation — would create problems and the Cabinet would not accept it, the official said.
Separately yesterday, two pro-localization campaigners called for the bill to be pushed through to bolster national security.
Taiwan Friends Association chairman Huang Kun-hu (黃崑虎) said China has infiltrated Taiwan’s elections and society through various means, and that Taiwanese democracy must be protected if national security is to be safeguarded.
Now is an opportune time for the DPP to push the bill, as the issue of Chinese infiltration has been brought to the forefront by the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, he said.
Lawmakers must pass the bill, which would provide a legal basis to curb Chinese infiltration, he added.
Threats from the pan-blue camp to stage demonstrations against passing the bill cannot be justified, as opposing the legislation would be opposing efforts to uphold national security, Huang said, adding that he believed a majority of the public supports the legislation.
However, given the short time the DPP has to pass the bill, it should communicate extensively with the public about the urgency and importance of the legislation, he said.
Senior adviser to the president Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文), a former lawyer, said that the pan-blue camp’s criticism of the bill has been hyperbolic and unfounded, as it only targets accepting political donations, campaigning, lobbying and disrupting peaceful rallies at the instruction or with the funding of an infiltration source.
The DPP caucus did not suddenly propose the bill, as it had already discussed legislation to crack down on Chinese infiltration and CCP proxies, Yao said.
“What is the KMT afraid of?” he asked.
Regarding criticism from former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) that the bill is “most absurd and reminiscent of the Martial Law era,” Yao said that was a distortion of the facts and that Ma — who holds a doctorate in law from Harvard University — has wasted his legal expertise.
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