To curb the Chinese government’s infiltration of Taiwan, legislators have proposed draft amendments and a bill to increase penalties for proxies found to be disrupting the democratic process.
The proposals, submitted by lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the New Power Party (NPP) and the Taiwan Statebuilding Party, are expected to pass their first readings at the legislature on Tuesday and be passed to committees for review.
DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) 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).
Photo: Lin Liang-sheng, Taipei Times
He proposed jail terms of up to five years for people who are found to have falsely claimed to be representatives of Taipei in negotiations with Beijing, been commissioned by Beijing to harm Taiwan’s sovereignty or been working with Beijing to disrupt the government.
The NPP caucus proposed that authorities reveal the names of people found to have been dispatched, commissioned or paid by the Chinese government to conduct political campaigns in Taiwan.
Campaigners failing to register a relationship with the Chinese government should be fined between NT$1 million and NT$10 million (US$32,415 and US$324,149), repeatable until registration for elections are completed, the NPP said.
If such people are members of a group or agency, the government could order it to dissolve, it said.
Those presenting a false registration should face jail terms of six months to five years, or a fine of NT$2 million to NT$20 million, the proposals say.
Wang tendered amendments to the Lobbying Act (遊說法), suggesting a repeatable fine of NT$1 million to NT$5 million for people who lobby or ask others to lobby for China or other foreign powers, which would also apply to those found to have accepted funds from lobbyists or concealed being lobbied, it said.
The Taiwan Statebuilding Party proposed transparency rules for people working with foreign powers, with the bill tendered by DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), among others.
People or groups must be registered as foreign proxies if they are identified by the Ministry of Justice as having links to foreign powers and are attempting to sway elections, referendums, political parties or government operations, the bill says.
Those without proper registration should be fined NT$100,000 to NT$500,000, it says.
Those failing to register after being fined three times would face a prison term of up to one year or a fine of up to NT$2 million, while those providing a false registration would face a jail term of up to three years, it says.
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