"Press freedom is important, but I think national security weighs more," he said. "National interests should be the first priority for everybody. Nothing is more important than this."
Lawmakers said that national interests are also their main concern. However, both press freedom and national security should be protected by laws or some other mechanism when the two come in conflict.
Constitutional rights
"Our constitution clearly states that people's freedom of speech is protected," KMT lawmaker John Chang (章孝嚴) said.
He said that the legislature should pass bills on state secrets, government information disclosure, national-intelligence supervision and intelligence archives as soon as possible so that both the government and the media have regulations to follow when arguments over national security and press freedom crop up.
The four bills are on hold, awaiting approval by the legislature.
"People have different definitions of `secrets,'" he said. "It will make things easier if there is a manual to follow."
Aside from making new laws, DPP lawmaker Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) suggested the creation of a new group called the National Intelligence Supervisory Committee (國家情報監督委員會). Lee said that any future committee members who leak classified information could be expelled from the body and referred to the legislature's Discipline Committee for punishment.
"In the future, we can even deprive committee members' immunity if they leak classified information and charge them under the Criminal Code," Lee said.
"In fact, a person who leaks classified information about national security can be regarded as a traitor."
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