Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members serving in the government and working for the party must tender reports to the party before and after their planned visits to China, Hong Kong and Macau, or if they have met with Chinese officials, President William Lai (賴清德), who is also the party chairman, said yesterday.
As the political party that is the bulwark of Taiwanese democracy and sovereignty, the DPP will also hold courses or workshops to help party workers and party members in government to be more mindful of national security and the concept of the rule of law, Lai said.
DPP caucuses in the legislature and local governments should draft regulations or enact systems reinforcing national security mindsets for legislators’ or councilors’ assistants, Lai said.
Photo courtesy of the Democratic Progressive Party
Foreign aggressors have stepped up measures to infiltrate Taiwan on top of cognitive warfare, “united front” rhetoric and “gray zone” tactics, as evidenced in recent reports of party members alleged to be working with Chinese spies, Lai said yesterday.
The DPP, which devotes itself to protecting Taiwan, is naturally the political party that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would most want to infiltrate, not the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which shares similar views with the CCP, Lai said.
As members of a political party born under an autocracy, they should keep in mind that the party’s mission is to protect and uphold the democratic and free government of Taiwan, while adhering to the party’s founding beliefs to be free of corruption, hard-working and embracing of local culture, Lai said.
The alleged acts of the accused contravene what the DPP stands for and betray the nation’s interests for personal gain, and they must answer to the party, the nation’s legal system and the citizenry, Lai said.
Lai made the comments during the convention of the party’s Central Standing Committee.
Lai called on the DPP legislative caucus to support national security and anti-infiltration amendments.
It is not the first time that the DPP has been infiltrated, Lai said, adding that some party members have changed their views and stance on national sovereignty after they left government.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
RSS