A draft amendment to broaden the definition of treason to include collusion with China has been submitted for legislative negotiations, with the first round of cross-caucus talks expected to begin tomorrow at the soonest.
Under the Criminal Code, treason through collusion must involve an “enemy state” and is therefore inapplicable to Taiwanese who spy for China.
The draft amendment, proposed by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), seeks to expand the definition of treason to include collusion with an “enemy” — described in the proposal as any “country, political entity or organization that engages in armed conflict or a military standoff with the Republic of China,” or “posing a military threat to the nation.”
Photo: Lin Liang-sheng, Taipei Times
If passed, individuals caught colluding with China with the intent to subject Taiwan’s territory to its rule could be sentenced to death or life imprisonment.
The Criminal Code’s provisions on treason through collusion have been useless in practice, resulting in a serious flaw in the nation’s security, Wang said.
Considering that the draft involves the safety of 23 million Taiwanese, hopefully legislators across party lines would agree to pass it quickly without touching on the issue of the nation’s status, he said.
Only when the problem with the Criminal Code is solved can the government begin to deal with other issues in national security laws, he said.
Wang had previously cited as an example the case of retired vice admiral Ko Cheng-sheng (柯政盛), whose final assignment was deputy commander of the navy fleet.
Ko was sentenced by the Supreme Court in March 2015 to 14 months in prison for helping China set up a spy ring involving officers under his command and passing on classified military information to China, because the Criminal Code does not address Chinese espionage cases.
The amendment would close this loophole, Wang said.
Since the amendment was proposed in 2017, opposition parties have blocked it many times, he said.
“Now it has finally reached the final step,” he said.
Even if cross-caucus negotiations broke down, the amendment would still be put to a vote on the legislative floor, he said.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
RSS