Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers have proposed revising military laws to stipulate that any active-duty military personnel who express allegiance to the enemy could face two to seven years in prison, adding that soldiers’ loyalty to the nation means “no freedom of expression.”
In the past few years some military personnel have pledged allegiance to China through videos and documents, but it is not punishable under the law.
In its draft amendment to Article 24 of the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法), the Ministry of National Defense proposed only making actions that “harm the military’s interests” punishable, citing freedom of speech in its reasoning for the draft amendment.
Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, REUTERS
DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) yesterday said he found the ministry’s rationale “absurd.”
“Receiving money from the CCP to do its bidding is not freedom of speech and should be punished under the law,” he said.
Wang and DPP Legislator Wang Yi-chuan (王義川), along with 14 others, proposed amending Article 24 to make pledging allegiance to the enemy through speech, actions, writings, drawing, recordings or any other means punishable by two to seven years in prison.
Those who plan to commit the offense would be punishable by one to five years in prison.
The proposal referenced a case from the end of 2023 when army Colonel Hsiang Te-en (向德恩) was accused of pledging allegiance to China and receiving payment from Chinese operatives to work as a spy.
Hsiang was recruited by retired lieutenant Shao Wei-chiang (邵維強), and allegedly signed a “pledge of surrender” and promised to “serve, as best he may, in his office for the benefits of the motherland in the event of war across the [Taiwan] Strait.”
The legislators said that incidents involving military personnel wearing their uniforms while waving Chinese flags or agreeing to surrender resulted in 10 people being convicted in February for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法)
Regardless of whether the country is at war, their ranking or position, military personnel must be loyal to the country, protect the people and safeguard national security according to the Constitution and National Security Act, the legislators said in their proposal.
In this regard, “there is no room for freedom of speech [for soldiers],” they said.
Soldiers who surrender without resisting or express loyalty to the enemy fail in their duty to protect the country, they said.
Even having doubts about loyalty to the nation is grounds for deeming soldiers unfit for service, they added.
Commenting on the ministry’s proposal, lawyer Yang Chung-ting (楊仲庭) said that requiring proof that actions harm military interests makes the evidentiary threshold for punishing disloyalty too high, effectively making it a “toothless tiger.”
If military personnel pledge allegiance to the enemy, it harms the military and the political environment, making people doubt the military’s strength and determination, and impacting their will to resist a foreign hostile force, he said.
The ministry’s proposed amendment and explanation about soldiers’ freedom of speech risks misunderstanding this freedom, he added.
“Soldiers never had so-called freedom of speech,” Institute for National Defense and Security Research researcher Shen Ming-shih (沈明室) said.
Military personnel should be subject to regulations if they make statements that betray the country or affect national security, Shen said yesterday when reached for comment.
Many spies for China have only been sentenced to two or three years in prison, which is a low cost compared with the benefits from spying, he said.
The ministry and lawmakers should reach a consensus on the legislation so that this behavior can be prevented, he said.
Military trials are handled by common courts, where judges might lack sufficient understanding of national security cases, Shen said.
Strengthening legislation and clearly defining China as an enemy or foreign hostile force is necessary to effectively prevent infiltration, he said.
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