The Control Yuan has made available online the report of an investigation into the implementation of the Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法), which points out a number of defects, including an eavesdropping case involving several people that could be decided by just a prosecutor and a judge.
The government has been unable to ensure people’s freedom from being illegally bugged, one of the investigating Control Yuan members, Li Ful-dien (李復甸), told reporters on Tuesday. The other two investigators are Yeh Yao-peng (葉耀鵬) and Lin Chu-liang (林鉅鋃).
Li said that the “Managing and Checking System of Communication Surveillance” set up by the Taiwan High Court is not strict enough and could allow law enforcement personnel to wiretap people who are in contact with targeted individuals or to add other telephone numbers to the list of approved targets without permission.
Taiwanese courts permitted 504,788 cases of eavesdropping from 2007 to last year, while the US had about 1,000 to 2,000 cases per year in the past decade, according to the report.
However, the courts checked up on just 153 of the approved cases during the 2011-2013 period, representing an average of only 2.4 supervisory visits to law enforcement units during the period, the report found.
The report said cases can be assigned to a prosecutor and a judge, who are also responsible for renewing the case or adding targeted telephone numbers.
Taiwan falls short compared with certain other countries such as Germany, where cases are decided by judges who are on duty on a rotational basis, and the US, where cases need to be reviewed along with all previous data and can be subject to review by a different court, according to the report.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
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