A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator yesterday said he has submitted a bill that would stipulate penalties for certain espionage-related activities.
The National Security Act (國家安全法) does not stipulate penalties for participating in organizational activities on behalf of a foreign power, or the recruitment of people for such activities, DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said.
The bill would apply in situations such as the case of former army colonel Hsiang Te-en (向德恩) who was last year sentenced to seven years and six months in prison by the Kaohsiung District Court for accepting NT$560,000 in bribes from Chinese sources to work as a spy, Wang said.
Photo: Reuters
Hsiang had also signed a letter of surrender with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), posing in a photograph with the document in military attire and pledging assistance, to the best of his abilities, in the event of an invasion.
Hsiang received a relatively lenient sentence because current laws do not stipulate penalties for contraventions such as pledging allegiance to an enemy and cooperating with an enemy in “united front” operations, Wang said.
“Hsiang’s case has ignited concerns at all levels about how the government should respond to Chinese infiltration,” he said.
In February last year, the Ministry of Justice invited the National Security Bureau, the Mainland Affairs Council, the Investigation Bureau and local prosecutors’ offices to discuss the matter, he said.
“Most of the officials who attended the discussion expressed their belief that to maintain national security, it must be illegal for even former military personnel to pledge allegiance to the CCP,” he said.
Article 2 of the National Security Act only prohibits “initiating, funding, hosting, manipulating, directing or developing an organization” for hostile foreign forces.
The bill would add participating in organizational activities to the act, he said.
The article also stipulates that those found “disclosing, delivering or transmitting confidential documents” may be sentenced to one to seven years imprisonment, while those found “collecting confidential documents” through espionage may be sentenced to between six months and five years.
The amendment would increase those sentences, because such acts could threaten the safety of national security personnel or the execution of their missions, or could result in the arrest of intelligence personnel, confiscation of property or destruction of facilities, which would harm national interests, he said.
The amendments would apply to military personnel or civil servants who use their authority to develop organizations on behalf of hostile foreign forces, he said.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
The China Coast Guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, Beijing’s state media said, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from other countries as well as an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, and Manila is taking part in sweeping joint military drills with the US which Beijing has slammed as destabilizing. The Chinese coast guard
RSS