Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers have proposed an amendment to the National Security Act (國家安全法) that would ensure elected representatives have half the normal sentence added to their term if convicted of leaking state secrets.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) is under investigation for allegedly leaking confidential material about Taiwan’s Indigenous Defense Submarine Program to South Korea.
Local media reported that during closed-door meetings of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee at which details of the submarine program were reviewed, Ma brought in a personal device to call her aides, and refused to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Photo: Lin Liang-sheng, Taipei Times
DPP lawmakers on Thursday last week filed a motion to change the committee’s rules, which was passed.
The amended rules stipulate that no electronic or recording devices, including smart watches and bracelets, legislature-issued communication devices, and cameras, are allowed on lawmakers, officials and staffers attending the committee’s closed-door meetings.
In addition, they cannot keep handwritten notes, must sign a confidentiality agreement and can be searched, the rules state.
However, DPP Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) said the new rules do not prevent legislators who hear confidential government or military information from passing it on.
“It is almost impossible to guard against representatives elected by our democratic system who are working for an enemy state,” she said.
Lawmakers have many opportunities to access military files and national secrets, and have the authority to ask government agencies to provide them with confidential material for review, she said.
“Yet when they ... leak national secrets, they receive the same punishment as any member of the public,” Lin said.
Lin and other DPP legislators proposed a supplement to Article 7 of the act and have received the signatures needed to ensure it is discussed by the legislature.
The proposed amendment refers to the definition of public officials in Article 2 of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), saying that they should face a punishment proportional to their responsibilities “to ensure our national security is safeguarded.”
The proposed amendment says that those serving in office, or who are retired — whether they are in government or the armed forces — must have half the normal sentence added to their term if convicted under Article 2 of the National Security Act.
Separately, DPP Legislator Lin Tai-hua (林岱樺) had proposed an amendment to the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Yuan (立法院議事規則), which passed a first reading on Oct. 6.
The proposed amendment requires all legislators, invited government officials and legislature staffers to sign a confidentiality agreement when attending closed-door meetings, or be refused access.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS