Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed an amendment to the National Security Act (國家安全法) that would increase the minimum punishments for treason.
Article 7 of the act states that “any person, who intends to endanger national security or social stability and commits an offense” such as espionage or the sharing of national secrets with a foreign force would face up to seven years in prison and a fine of NT$50 million to NT$100 million (US$1.56 million to US$3.12 million).
Chen proposed increasing the minimum prison term to 10 years and the minimum fine to NT$100 million to deter those who would spy on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The amendment would also increase the maximum fine to NT$200 million.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
He also proposed expanding the scope of information-sharing that would be considered a crime in the act.
Article 2 currently lists “confidential documents, drawings, images, messages, articles or electromagnetic records that are for official use.”
That should be expanded to include items that “should be kept secret for national security or public interests,” Chen said.
He also proposed amending the National Intelligence Service Act (國家情報工作法) to require the establishment of specialized national security courts to be handled by judges with professional knowledge related to national security.
The judges would receive a certain number of hours of national security-related training, and would undergo annual courses, he said.
Separately, DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) and others proposed a draft amendment to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) that would require the revocation of long-term residency rights of Chinese spouses found to present a national security risk.
Under the proposal, those found to have committed offenses of civil strife or foreign aggression as stipulated in the Criminal Code would be deported.
However, those deemed to present a national security risk, but who have not committed any crime, would only have their long-term residency rights revoked and would be permitted to remain in Taiwan as a dependent of their spouse.
Crimes to which the amended measures would apply would include developing organizations for the CCP or stealing business secrets from companies producing core technologies, as stipulated in the National Security Act, Shen said.
The measures would also apply to those who have contravened the National Intelligence Service Act by delivering confidential information to China, and those who have breached the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法) by intervening in election activities and have been prosecuted, or received deferred prosecution, he said.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious
RSS