The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus’ anti-infiltration bill on Friday last week advanced to a second reading and discussion in additional cross-caucus negotiations, but the caucus is faced with a dilemma: It had filed a proposal to allow the Legislative Yuan to recess from Dec. 18 so that lawmakers can focus on campaigning.
The Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) states that a proposal on which there is no consensus should be saved for a plenary session and reviewed, which would delay a vote on the anti-infiltration bill until just before the Jan. 11 presidential and legislative elections.
The caucus is considering calling an extraordinary plenary session on Dec. 30 to review the bill, or calling an extraordinary session after the elections to deal with it then.
From the start of campaigning, several high-profile incidents have set the elections up as a choice between values.
First, there were calls by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) heavyweights, such as KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), to sign a peace agreement with China, which sparked concern that Taiwan would become the target of Chinese military invasion — the fate that Tibet suffered in 1950 after signing a peace agreement with China.
Then, the Financial Times reported that China’s Taiwan Affairs Office gave orders on a daily basis to the Chinese-language China Times and CtiTV on how to prepare their news on cross-strait affairs and Taiwan’s local elections last year in an effort to help Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) — now the KMT’s presidential candidate — get elected.
The DPP should reassert its values to Taiwanese by taking action on the bill before the elections. This would allow it to make a strong political statement that would consolidate its base.
Lawmakers’ vote on the bill would serve as an important reference for constituents when they vote in the legislative election. Reviewing the bill ahead of the polls would contrast pan-green and pan-blue lawmakers on national security, allowing the undecided to make a better-informed decision.
KMT lawmakers on Friday said the bill is politically motivated and timed to give the DPP an advantage ahead of the elections, but such criticism deliberately ignores the truth.
The bill would crack down on political donations from external hostile forces and their attempts to influence elections or fund referendum drives.
The bill would also punish people instructed by external hostile forces, or funded by them, to disrupt social order or peaceful public assemblies.
Last year, al-Jazeera reported that the Concentric Patriotism Association was being funded by Beijing intermediaries, yet when association executive director Zhang Xiuye (張秀葉) attacked Falun Gong members in 2014, she was only sentenced to 60 days detention.
If the bill is passed, any Chinese-funded operation aimed at disrupting public safety would be punishable by a prison term of up to seven years or a fine of NT$5 million (US$163,886), which would be an improvement over current penalties.
Infiltration from outside the nation is not adequately covered by current laws, thus there is presently a legal and national security loophole. As Chinese tactics evolve, so should the laws that safeguard the nation from them.
The DPP should stand its ground and pass the bill sooner rather than later, which would be in the interest of the party and the nation.
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