Civil servants working in sensitive fields such as national security would be subject to regular loyalty and morality checks, according to a draft law before the legislature.
The measure would apply to new government employees and those transferred to new positions in fields related to national defense, foreign affairs, technology, intelligence gathering and China affairs.
Seventy to 80 percent of these posts are at the National Security Bureau, the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau and the National Police Administration. It is estimated that 4,000 to 5,000 positions would be subject to the checks.
According to a Cabinet official who asked not to be named, civil servants subject to the requirements would be checked in 10 major areas every four years.
"The Investigation Bureau under the Ministry of Justice would investigate whether they have developed a drug, alcohol or mental problem over the past five years, whether they have had close contact with those convicted of treason, maintain dual citizenship, or whether they or their immediate family has stayed in China, Hong Kong or Macau for over a year since November 1987," the official said.
They would also be checked for whether they or their immediate family members have served in political parties, the military, government agencies or any politically oriented institution or group in a foreign country.
Violators would be subject to being transferred to a non-sensitive position, rejection of recruitment or dismissal.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sun Kauo-hwa (
"It's definitely intended to cause a return to the days of `White Terror' although Taiwan is no longer an authoritarian regime," he said.
People First Party (PFP) Legislator Huang Yi-chiao (
"We thought it would be a better idea to amend the Civil Servants Employment Law (
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Chien Lin Huei-jyun (
"We came up with a host of draft bills in May 2002 with a view to tightening the protection of military intelligence and other national secrets, but the KMT and the PFP had boycotted screening of these bills and stonewalled the transfer of the national loyalty bill to the legislature's Judiciary Committee for deliberation 17 times," she said.
Without the enactment of this bill, Chien Lin said, government agencies cannot conduct stringent loyalty checks on would-be civil servants.
In light of serious leaks of classified information over the past few years, the Cabinet's Central Personnel Administration presented in January 2002 a draft measure that would allow the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau to conduct loyalty checks on government workers in sensitive positions.
The draft triggered a public outcry and warnings about a return to the "White Terror" era. "White Terror" refers to the decades of martial law under KMT rule.
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