The Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法) is to take effect today, the Presidential Office said yesterday on its Web site.
The 12-article law, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Dec. 31, prohibits people acting on the instructions of or with the funding of “infiltration sources” from illegal campaigning or lobbying, or receiving illegal political donations, as well as disrupting social order, peaceful assemblies, elections or referendums.
While the activities are already defined as illegal in the Criminal Code, the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) and the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), the Anti-infiltration Act stipulates the punishments are applicable to people who break those laws on the instructions or with the financial support of infiltration sources, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The Anti-infiltration Act applies only to people “who intentionally break the law, and not to those who are unaware of the situation,” the council added.
It stipulates that people who are influenced by infiltration sources and conduct illegal lobbying would be fined between NT$500,000 and NT$5 million (US$16,699 and US$166,990).
If the lobbying concerns national security issues, such as national defense, diplomacy and cross-strait affairs, the punishment would be a maximum of three years in prison or a fine of up to NT$5 million.
The Anti-infiltration Act states that for people who are influenced by infiltration sources and contravene articles 149 to 153 of the Criminal Code by disrupting social order, or Article 31 of the Assembly and Parade Act by disrupting peaceful assemblies and parades, the sentence would be increased by half of what is stipulated in the Criminal Code and the Assembly and Parade Act.
People who are influenced by infiltration sources to participate in illegal campaign activities, thus contravening the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act or the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act, would be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison, or fined up to NT$10 million.
The Anti-infiltration Act states that people under the influence of infiltration sources who disrupt elections, recalls or referendums and contravene either of the two election and recall acts, would face a sentence increased by half of what is stipulated in the two acts.
A life sentence or a minimum of 15 years in prison would be given to those under the influence of infiltration sources who disrupt public gatherings such as an election or petition rally.
The Anti-infiltration Act aims to fend off infiltration, rather than curb all cross-border exchanges, the council said, adding that it would not restrict regular exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.
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
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
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
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS