Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) yesterday said that 15 lawmakers have co-signed his proposal to lengthen the prison terms of incumbent or retired National Security Bureau (NSB) officers found guilty of leaking state secrets.
The proposed amendments to the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法) would increase by half the sentences of NSB intelligence officers and other personnel convicted of leaking national secrets either during their active service or within a year of their retirement, he said.
At present, the act stipulates a prison sentence of three to 10 years for handing secrets to a foreign power, and one to 12 years for secretly collecting information on behalf of a foreign power, he said.
Those penalties must be stepped up to increase their deterrence value, in light of the mounting threat of China-directed foreign espionage activity in Taiwan, especially those aiming to compromise the bureau, he said.
Enhanced sentencing is justified by the fact that bureau officials and support staff have access to secret information that far exceeds that of the general public and by their confidentiality clause, which remains applicable after retirement, he said.
To protect the bureau from infiltration by compromised recruits, the proposed amendments would require mandatory security assessments of candidates immediately after the completion of the initial qualification examination, he said
The practice of vetting candidates after they have completed training is a potential vulnerability that hostile powers could exploit to gain insight into the bureau’s operational methods and procedures, he said.
Moreover, eliminating candidates after they have completed their training is a waste of resources and such decisions are routinely contested by candidates in court, giving rise to unnecessary legal expenses, he said.
Security vetting is conducted to ensure that intelligence officers’ loyalty and integrity are untainted by enemy measures and that they are above allowing personal factors to influence the conduct of intelligence operations, he said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique