Taiwan is reviewing key pieces of legislation as part of counterintelligence efforts based on President William Lai’s (賴清德) 17-point national security strategy unveiled in March, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said yesterday in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister paper of the Taipei Times).
Lai’s strategy is aimed at countering Chinese threats to Taiwan’s sovereignty, military infiltration, confusion of national identity, promotion of unification, and luring of Taiwanese businesspeople and young people, Chang said.
The Executive Yuan has identified 120 tasks, including 21 laws that need to be amended or implemented, as well as executive orders and administrative measures that need to be revised, he said.
Photo: Chen Yu-jui, Taipei Times
Much of this work has already begun, including passing the Special Statute on Strengthening the Resilience of the Economy, Society and National Security in Response to International Developments (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例), and amending the Cyber Security Management Act (資通安全管理法) and the Industrial Innovation Statute (產業創新條例), he said.
The legislature has also completed an initial review of legislation concerning undersea cables, classifying them as critical infrastructure and increasing penalties for vessels that damage them, he said.
The legislation would impose criminal liability for damaging undersea cables equivalent to that for damaging water or natural gas pipelines, as well as requiring ships to activate their automatic identification systems, he added.
In response to Chinese infiltration attempts, four military justice bills — the Military Trial Act (軍事審判法), the Military Judges Personnel Act (軍法官人事條例), the Military Court Organization Act (軍事法院組織法) and the Military Prosecutors Office Organization Act (軍事檢察署組織法) — are being reviewed, Chang said.
The National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法) are also being discussed and would be steadily improved, he said.
Regarding executive orders, plans and administrative measures, Chang said that next year’s defense budget would reach 3 percent of GDP, following NATO’s model.
In addition, the Mainland Affairs Council in April issued a new interpretation of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), specifying that holding a permanent residency certificate issued by China would also result in the loss of “Taiwan status,” he said.
Military personnel, civil servants and teachers are prohibited from holding Chinese IDs or household registration, and are required to report any contact with Chinese officials when traveling to China, Hong Kong or Macau, he said.
In terms of education, funding from the Higher Education Sprout Project cannot be used to sponsor trips to China, he said.
In other news, an amended regulation requiring Chinese nationals to provide notarized proof that they have renounced their People’s Republic of China (PRC) passport to qualify for permanent residency in Taiwan took effect yesterday, the Ministry of the Interior said.
The amendments stipulate that the document should demonstrate that the applicant has “lost their household registration in the Mainland Area” and that they have “either not applied for or renounced their PRC passport.”
Before the amendment, applicants were only required to provide a document proving that their “original household registration” had been renounced.
The change is needed because, in practice, Chinese nationals can still hold a PRC passport even after renouncing their household registration in China, the ministry said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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