Citizen Congress Watch yesterday urged amendments to the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法) to prevent election interference and increase the transparency of cash flows during campaign periods.
The legislative watchdog proposed four amendments, calling on the legislature to make the changes by the end of the upcoming legislative session, which is to run until December, as campaigns for the presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 13 next year have started.
Political donations related to primary elections held by political parties should be regulated by the act, the group said.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
Regulations regarding leaders of recall campaigns and leaders facing a recall should be also included, it said.
Primary elections and recall campaigns are not regulated by the act, which is problematic as it provides opportunities for illegal funds to intervene, Citizen Congress Watch executive director Leo Chang (張宏林) said.
The act is not thorough enough to prevent Chinese funding to from interfering in elections, the group said.
Political donations should be disclosed before the election, instead of up to nine months after the election according to the current act, it said.
Any expense over NT$100,000 should be revealed within two weeks, the group said, calling on candidates to voluntarily disclose income of more than NT$100,000 and expenses of more than NT$50,000 before the amendments are passed.
Citizen Congress Watch chairman Tseng Chien-yuan (曾建元) said that the act is too narrow in scope, so many donations are not regulated.
To avoid public scrutiny, large political donations are often made in China or other countries to avoid records of transactions in Taiwan, he said.
China’s obvious intention to influence Taiwan’s elections, often through incentives such as campaign funds, makes the issue extremely problematic, he added.
No Chinese individual, juristic person, organization or other institution has been punished under the act since the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) was promulgated more than three years ago, which is hard to believe, Chang said.
Regulations have been ineffective, as there have been many reports of attempts by foreign forces to interfere in Taiwan’s elections, he said.
Many institutions at home and abroad have warned that China would increase its interference in elections, but the regulations regarding election funds are insufficient, he said.
Regulations on political donations should be treated seriously by political parties, as they are related to Taiwan’s national security and election climate, he said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to