The Legislative Yuan is to prioritize review of proposed amendments to four laws during its next session to strengthen Taiwan’s “democracy defense mechanism,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after reports that more than 20 Taiwanese online media outlets shared an article criticizing President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) that had been published by a Web site managed by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
The “China Taiwan Site” on Tuesday published an article by a reader saying that given how the Tsai administration had “removed” National Taiwan University (NTU) president-elect Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) in such a “poor” and “overbearing” manner, the public would easily remove Tsai next year to end the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) foolish behavior.
The article was republished by Fingermedia (指傳媒), Asia Media (亞傳媒) and Taiwan Diginews (民生報導), among other local outlets.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
China has been using “sharp power” in the past few years to infiltrate and divide democratic societies, while the US, Australia and other nations have drafted anti-infiltration and anti-foreign agent laws, among others, in a bid to resist infiltration and division by foreign forces, Chiu said.
After Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) proposed his “five points” in January, the strength of China’s “united front” and infiltration efforts toward Taiwan have been increased, he said.
Taiwan’s democratic, free and open society has been used to confuse and divide the public and destroy the nation’s political order, he added.
As Taiwan is on the front lines facing the threat of China’s “sharp power,” to respond to China’s new “united front” tactics aimed at “eliminating Taiwan,” there is a “legitimate and necessary” rationale to push for laws and regulations that would bar Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agents and related activities, he said.
The Lobbying Act (遊說法), the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法) and the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) prohibit China from engaging in such activities, but there are no laws regulating such illegal activities performed through “agents,” he said.
The DPP caucus has proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to address the issue of CCP agents.
The New Power Party’s legislative caucus and others have also proposed draft amendments to address foreign infiltration.
Among the laws targeted for amendment are the Radio and Television Act (廣播電視法), the Cable Radio and Television Act (有線廣播電視法) and the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), Chiu said.
The council would cooperate with the DPP’s proposed amendments, and it would also support incorporating covering foreign agents into other laws, he added.
The Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan would work together to push for legal, constitutional and feasible bills, he said.
As part of the process of drafting proposed amendments, the government would listen to the opinions of academics, experts and other members of society to ensure the normal functioning of the nation’s free and democratic constitutional system and its social economy; defend national sovereignty and security; and protect the people’s basic rights.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS