Lawmakers yesterday passed amendments to the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), which stipulate that intelligence personnel who spy for an external force and leak information on national defense, national security or communications security could face life imprisonment.
The act previously stipulated a prison term of at least seven years for personnel spying for an external force, or three to 10 years if leaked intelligence was not in the three categories.
People who have access to sources of intelligence, channels, agencies or personnel, or information pertaining to the upholding of mobile or land-based communications security would face a prison term of 10 years to life if they are found to have leaked classified information as spies for a benign or hostile external force, the new rules say.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The 30-year statute of limitations for such charges was extended to a lifetime.
If they leaked other classified information while spying for an external force, they would face a prison term of seven to 10 years, the rules say.
People who are not engaged in spying activities, but who leak intelligence would face a prison term of at least seven years, while those who illegally access such information would face three to 10 years behind bars, they say.
Those who illegally damage, destroy or conceal intelligence would face a prison term of three to seven years and a fine of NT$2 million (US$65,970), the amended act says.
The minimum penalty for active or retired intelligence personnel who have been recruited by an external force to conduct espionage missions was raised from three to seven years in prison.
The penalty would also apply to personnel found to have attempted to spy for an external force, the amendments say.
Intelligence personnel who exploit rules in the act that allow them to go undercover or establish companies, stores or organizations to leak intelligence would face 1.5 times the punishments and a fine of up to NT$10 million if they are found to have benefited from their infractions, they say.
Intelligence agencies should pin down, study and analyze commercial secrets that are unduly gathered, stolen, leaked or transferred at the instruction of a benign or hostile external force, they say.
Also passed was a supplementary resolution sponsored by Democratic Progressive Party legislators Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), Wu Kuen-yu (吳焜裕) and Chen Man-li (陳曼麗), as well as independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) that grants active intelligence personnel and their family members discounted medical fees at military hospitals.
Intelligence personnel who have accrued seniority and their families should be granted the same healthcare and childrearing benefits that retired military personnel receive, the resolution says.
As intelligence personnel are the most susceptible group to being recruited by external forces, and their lives and the lives of their families are at risk whenever they are abroad, the benefits would make them more willing to stay in their posts longer, the legislators said.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS