Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators have proposed an amendment to strip benefits from military retirees who have received suspended sentences for espionage-related offenses.
China frequently uses retired military officers to “build bridges” with active-duty military personnel in Taiwan, but under the law only those who have received sentences for contraventions stipulated in the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法) or the National Security Act (國家安全法) would lose their retirement benefits, DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said.
The 14 retirees who have been sentenced for espionage-related offenses under those laws have been ordered to repay about NT$40 million (US$1.23 million) worth of benefits, but 85 percent of that remains outstanding, DPP Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said, adding that the convicted retirees could also avoid paying by applying for administrative relief.
Photo: Lin Liang-sheng, Taipei Times
Shen and Lin, along with DPP legislators Wu Li-hua (伍麗華), Lin Yi-chin (林宜瑾) and Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘), last week submitted a draft amendment for the Act of Military Service for Officers and Non-commissioned Officers of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍軍官士官服役條例) to the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
The service regulations for officers and non-commissioned officers of the army, navy and air force stipulate that those who commit acts that facilitate civil strife or foreign invasion, or that endanger national security through the sharing of national secrets with a foreign power and are sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment, must lose their retirement benefits.
The proposed amendment adds that in cases where the prosecutor does not pursue a case or defers prosecution, or where a sentence has not yet been determined, the retiree would also lose their benefits.
Separately, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers last week submitted proposed amendments to national defense-related laws to the committee for review.
KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) proposed amending Article 5 of the Pay Act of the Armed Forces (軍人待遇條例) to add a “combat bonus” for officers and soldiers serving in combat and combat support units to increase recruitment incentives.
Hsu also proposed amending the Armed Forces Punishment Act (陸海空軍懲罰法) to remove forms of corporal punishment, which she said had no educational benefit for soldiers and would deter recruitment.
KMT Legislator-at-large Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) proposed an amendment to Article 34 of the Military Trial Act (軍事審判法) to stipulate that cases of military personnel involving the Criminal Code be handled by military trial.
The law was amended following former army corporal Hung Chung-chiu’s (洪仲丘) death in 2013 to have cases handled by the civilian criminal court system, which led to criticism that it would harm military interests and national security.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
RSS