The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said that an anti-infiltration bill proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would undermine the nation’s freedom and democracy.
The DPP has been using alleged Chinese spy William Wang Liqiang’s (王立強) account of Chinese espionage activities to promote the bill, despite there being many questions about his story, KMT Chairman Wu Den-yi (吳敦義) said during the KMT’s Central Standing Committee meeting.
If passed, the anti-infiltration bill would “bring back Dong Chang (東廠),” a Ming Dynasty secret police agency, and undermine democracy and freedom, Wu said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Australian media on Saturday last week reported that Wang, a self-confessed former Chinese spy, has given Australia’s counterespionage agency inside intelligence on how Beijing conducts operations abroad.
Quoting Wang, reports said that he had helped funnel about 20 million yuan (US$2.85 million at the current exchange rate) of campaign donations to Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) for his mayoral campaign last year.
Han is the KMT’s presidential candidate.
Wang also said that China had paid various Taiwanese news networks to broadcast news designed to negatively affect the DPP ahead of the Jan. 11 elections.
The KMT caucus would strongly support the bill if it could improve national security and social stability, but so far those issues had not been handled properly, KMT caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗) said.
Despite the bill’s far-reaching implications, the DPP aims to push it through a second reading tomorrow without going through a proper committee review, he said, adding that the Executive Yuan did not even offer an alternative version.
Earlier yesterday, the KMT held a news conference at its headquarters when it accused the DPP of trying to railroad the bill.
The bill contains many articles that are “vague” and could easily be used to set up the party’s political enemies, legislator-at-large candidate Charles Chen (陳以信) said.
For example, one article would ban people from making political donations under the instruction or using funds offered by a foreign state or organization that is an enemy of, or in a military standoff with, Taiwan, he said.
Based on that definition, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam or even the US could be considered a source of infiltration if they become involved in a “military standoff” with Taiwan over disputed waters, he said.
The bill would give the government excessive power and would encroach on human rights, especially those of Taiwanese working and studying in China, he said.
The nation has already improved its mechanisms against infiltration after the Legislative Yuan in May passed amendments to national security laws, legislator-at-large candidate Stacey Lee (李貴敏) said at the news conference.
While the DPP said that an anti-infiltration act is needed to complement the newly amended national security laws, it is unclear why that would be necessary, she said.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS