Lawmakers yesterday passed an amendment to the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例) which broadens the definition of criminal organizations, making it applicable when charging members of political parties that are controlled by criminal gangs or known to threaten public safety.
The act formerly defined criminal organizations as standing and for-profit organizations that engage in violence, coercion, fraud, extortion or any other actions punishable by a maximum prison term of five years or longer.
The amendment substitutes “and” with “or,” which effectively widened the definition of criminal groups, which no longer have to be “for-profit” to warrant indictment.
Photo provided by police
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇), who proposed the amendment, said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been covertly commanding Taiwanese criminal gangs to infiltrate demonstrations and protests, as well as cause social disorder.
The situation has worsened to the extent that it threatens national security, and he hopes that the legislation would solve those problems, he said.
The amendment includes a new stipulation against name-dropping: People who imply or claim that they are affiliated with criminal gangs or their members — through actions, words or any other means — to pressure others into selling their assets or shares, relinquishing proprietary rights, cooperating with urban renewal projects, purchasing goods or services, repaying a debt or agreeing to terms laid down during debt settlement negotiations face a maximum jail term of three years and a maximum fine of NT$3 million (US$100,027).
Those who contravene this stipulation are also to be punished even if the criminal gangs or gangsters they cited no longer exist.
To offer victims or witnesses of organized crime better protection, they can question or confront suspects via audio or video calls, the amendment stipulates, adding that victims or witnesses who are overseas can do so by seeking help at the nation’s representative offices.
In other developments, new changes were made to the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例) to enhance the safety of minors at amusement arcades and Internet cafes, as well as to prevent them becoming the subject of sexual exploitation.
Under the amendment, employees at amusement arcades and Internet cafes are now on a list of businesses whose occupants should proactively inform local police or prosecutors upon learning that a minor is under threat of sexual exploitation, including having nude photographs taken, being allowed to engage in prostitution or bar-hosting, being solicited or shown sexually explicit material.
The act now includes penalties for people who entice, trick, force or accommodate minors as a way to have them perform bar-hosting duties, such as at erotic karaoke bars or as escorts.
Offenders face a maximum jail term of one year and a maximum fine of NT$300,000.
Those who have minors perform bar-hosting through the use of violence, coercion, drugs or subterfuge face a jail term of between three and five years and a maximum fine of NT$1.5 million.
DPP Legislator Lee Li-feng (李麗芬), who initiated the amendment, said the renaming of the act from the Child and Youth Sexual Transaction Prevention Act (兒童及少年性交易防制條例) to the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act in 2015 was momentous, but it was not enough to avoid potential pitfalls facing minors.
The passage of the amendment was the fruit of collaboration between lawmakers, interest groups and academics, she said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS