The first round of cross-caucus negotiations on an anti-infiltration bill yesterday yielded few results after lawmakers failed to agree on the wording of a draft article.
Despite the Legislative Yuan being in recess, Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) called for the talks ahead of a final review scheduled for Tuesday next week.
Article 1 of the draft legislation reads: “This act was drafted to prevent intervention and infiltration by external hostile forces to ensure national and social security, as well as to uphold the nation’s sovereignty and democratic and constitutional institutions.”
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
People First Party caucus whip Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) asked why the article says: “external hostile forces,” instead of “external forces.”
The US and Japan are not hostile, but could also pose threats to the nation in terms of commerce, as could the Philippines, whose forces in 2013 fired on a Taiwanese fishing vessel, he said.
Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said that the countries Lee mentioned do not plan to infiltrate Taiwan; undermine its democratic and constitutional institutions; engage in a military confrontation with the nation; seek to eliminate it by force; or endanger its sovereignty through non-peaceful means, and are therefore not the subjects of the bill.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus said that “the nation’s sovereignty” should be changed to “the sovereignty of the Republic of China.”
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that motions related to the article should be deliberated further at Tuesday’s legislative meeting.
The DPP caucus then proposed altering Article 2, which includes groups, organizations and agencies “supervised by” the government, affiliated organizations or any intermediary of an external hostile force.
The wording “supervised by” should be removed, as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) assigns “secretaries” at larger Chinese firms, some of which hire Taiwanese, but that does not mean those Taiwanese help the CCP infiltrate Taiwan, DPP caucus director-general Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said.
The KMT caucus filed two motions to amend the article.
One sought to change the wording “nations or groups that advocate compromising the nation’s sovereignty through non-peaceful means” to “nations or groups that resort to violence or coercion and have carried out actions compromising the nation’s sovereignty.”
The other recommended the inclusion of a requirement that the Executive Yuan regularly publish “sources of infiltration,” as otherwise the public would not know which groups or organizations to avoid.
New Power Party Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that the wording “resorts to violence or coercion” is redundant, as that falls under the original phrasing: “non-peaceful means.”
Kuan objected to the proposal that the Cabinet publish sources of infiltration, saying that as the bill does not give any relevant agencies a blank check, the requirement could give the Executive Yuan undue power.
The lawmakers resolved to also defer all motions related to the article for further deliberation on Tuesday.
Following more than three hours of discussion, the four caucuses only managed to discuss two of the 12 articles of the bill and only agreed on the legislation’s title: the anti-infiltration act.
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
CHIPS AND DEFENSE: Trump said the US had lost its chip business and Taipei should pay it for defense, and added that ‘we’re no different than an insurance company’ Taiwan-US relations are solid, and both sides are in agreement that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region are everyone’s concern, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday following comments by former US president Donald Trump that Taiwan “should pay” for US defense. Taiwan is thankful to the US for supporting Taiwan’s bid to participate in international organizations, Cho told a news conference in Taipei. “I know the people very well, respect them greatly. They did take about 100 percent of our chip business,” Trump told Bloomberg on June 25 in an interview that was published on Tuesday. “I think
SECURITY CONCERNS: An FBI agent said it was surprising that the shooter, whose motive remains unknown, was able to open fire before the Secret Service killed him On the heels of an apparent attempt to kill him, former US president Donald Trump yesterday called for unity and resilience as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled from the shooting that left him injured, but “fine,” and the shooter and a rally-goer dead. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting His aides said he was in “great spirits” and doing well. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place,” he
FRONTLINE DEFENDERS: While air defense forces were placed on alert, Lai visited the navy’s 131st Fleet in Keelung, calling it a vital pillar in the nation’s defense The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it was monitoring “waves” of missile tests in China’s Inner Mongolia and that its air defense forces were on alert. From 4am yesterday, the ministry detected “multiple waves of test launches” by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force in Inner Mongolia, about 2,000km from Taiwan, it said. The military are continuously monitoring developments and the air defense forces are on alert, the ministry said, without giving details. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not answer calls seeking comment outside of office hours. The Rocket Force is in charge of China’s conventional and nuclear