Three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators on Friday proposed amending the Legislators’ Conduct Act (立法委員行為法) to require lawmakers who have attended political conclaves in China to be transparent about their upcoming visits to the country.
The proposal came after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷) sparked controversy by asking for confidential military information from the Ministry of National Defense.
The amendment, sponsored by DPP legislators Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆), Su Chen-ching (蘇震清) and Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤), states that as China has not renounced compromising Taiwan’s territory or security, lawmakers who have attended a conclave and could have accessed Taiwan’s national secrets must report to the Legislative Yuan Secretariat their upcoming trips to China and publish their schedules online for public viewing.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee is to review the proposal.
The ministry on Thursday confirmed that Wu had requested confidential information.
Local Chinese-language media quoted a high-ranking officer as saying that the request included materials on cyberdefense units at the new Information and Electronic Warfare Command, and troop deployments for all three major branches of the armed forces, as well as updates on combined service units and military operations plans.
The ministry reportedly sent officials to brief Wu in his office regarding the information he had requested.
The draft amendment would also require lawmakers who are part of a conclave to report their “related party”: assistant, spouse, direct or lateral family member within two degrees of consanguinity, as well as, if any, the trustee of their assets.
Lawmakers who leak information during a conclave or a trip to China, Hong Kong or Macau, and who do not notify the secretariat of their trip would face the legislature’s Discipline Committee and a judicial investigation, the amendment says.
Asked about the proposal, Lai said that as Chinese infiltration tactics improve, Taiwan should improve its protection of classified information, especially from the reach of “pro-China” lawmakers.
However, as cross-strait exchanges could not be completely avoided, the proposal seeks to bolster public scrutiny by requiring lawmakers to publish details of their trips to China, he said.
Asked whether the proposal was targeting Wu, Lai did not give a direct answer, saying that there is a general distrust of Wu among his colleagues.
Even the KMT caucus has asked more tenured lawmakers to remain in the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee to decrease the chances of Wu landing a seat on the committee, he said.
Lai called on the KMT caucus to support his proposal, which he said would “save them a lot of trouble” if passed.
Reached for comment, Wu said that all legislators should be kept in check, without elaborating.
KMT caucus secretary-general Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said that the proposal should clearly define what it means by a “conclave.”
He asked whether secret meetings held by the legislature’s Economics Committee over procurement plans would also count as conclaves.
If data leakage is the problem, then the scope of the proposed amendment should include nations and territories other than China, Hong Kong and Macau, he said, adding that a legal amendment should be all-encompassing and must be approached with more prudence.
China has not stopped threatening the nation, and if lawmakers leak national secrets they are let in on by virtue of their position, it would negatively affect the nation, New Power Party caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said.
The tensions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait call for safeguards when it comes to the protection of sensitive information, Taiwan People’s Party caucus whip Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) said.
However, the proposal is too personal and its scope needs to be more clearly defined to avoid it having overly deep implications, he said.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that the proposal was filed under the names of individual lawmakers, not the caucus, which is open to the proposed amendment.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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