The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus unveiled an anti-infiltration bill yesterday, proposing that illegal disruption of social order or assemblies under the command or request of “infiltration sources” should be subject to a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a fine of NT$5 million (US$163,897).
The draft is needed to improve the nation’s legal infrastructure against increasing anti-democratic threats by hostile external forces, the DPP caucus said.
These forces have not backed down in their attempts to annex Taiwan, but have been intensifying the means by which they intend to meddle in elections and rattle social order, it said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
This poses a serious threat to the nation’s sovereignty and democracy, it said.
“Infiltration sources” are defined in the bill as organizations or institutions affiliated with the government, political parties or other political groups of a foreign hostile force, and individuals dispatched by such entities.
A hostile force is defined as a country or group at war with or in a military standoff with Taiwan that upholds the idea of jeopardizing the nation’s sovereignty by non-peaceful means.
The 12-article draft prohibits anyone from making political donations, influencing elections, proposing the recall of government officials or launching public referendums at the instruction or with the financial support of an infiltration source.
It also prohibits lobbying and using illegal means to disrupt social order or jeopardize a public assembly at the instruction or with the financial support of a source of infiltration.
The caucus said it has been working on the bill for some time and that it has nothing to do with claims by self-proclaimed Chinese spy William Wang Liqiang (王立強) that he had been tasked with infiltrating Taiwan and interfering in elections.
“It is the shared duty of the ruling and opposition parties to maintain national security,” DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said, calling on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to support the proposal.
Hopefully, it could be passed before the current legislative session ends at the end of next month, Ker said.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do