The Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) plan to pass an anti-infiltration bill on Tuesday as scheduled after gauging public opinion, which favors the move, a source said yesterday.
The DPP administration hopes to pass a version of the bill on which it and opposition parties have the largest common ground following cross-caucus talks tomorrow, the source said.
Despite the four legislative caucuses on Friday managing to discuss only two of the bill’s 12 articles, without reaching a consensus, an Executive Yuan official, who requested anonymity, applauded the lawmakers’ decision to commence a clause-by-clause review.
A DPP official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the DPP caucus’ version of the bill would certainly undergo minor adjustments, particularly to the definition of “infiltration sources” and Article 2, which currently includes groups, organizations and agencies “supervised by” the government, affiliated organizations or any intermediary of an external hostile force.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) assigns officials to larger Chinese companies, some of which hire Taiwanese, but that does not mean these Taiwanese will collude with the CCP to infiltrate Taiwan, the official said, adding that changes would allay the concerns of Taiwanese working in Chinese firms.
However, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ proposal that the Executive Yuan regularly publish a list of sources of infiltration — purportedly to enable better enforcement of the legislation — would create problems and the Cabinet would not accept it, the official said.
Separately yesterday, two pro-localization campaigners called for the bill to be pushed through to bolster national security.
Taiwan Friends Association chairman Huang Kun-hu (黃崑虎) said China has infiltrated Taiwan’s elections and society through various means, and that Taiwanese democracy must be protected if national security is to be safeguarded.
Now is an opportune time for the DPP to push the bill, as the issue of Chinese infiltration has been brought to the forefront by the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, he said.
Lawmakers must pass the bill, which would provide a legal basis to curb Chinese infiltration, he added.
Threats from the pan-blue camp to stage demonstrations against passing the bill cannot be justified, as opposing the legislation would be opposing efforts to uphold national security, Huang said, adding that he believed a majority of the public supports the legislation.
However, given the short time the DPP has to pass the bill, it should communicate extensively with the public about the urgency and importance of the legislation, he said.
Senior adviser to the president Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文), a former lawyer, said that the pan-blue camp’s criticism of the bill has been hyperbolic and unfounded, as it only targets accepting political donations, campaigning, lobbying and disrupting peaceful rallies at the instruction or with the funding of an infiltration source.
The DPP caucus did not suddenly propose the bill, as it had already discussed legislation to crack down on Chinese infiltration and CCP proxies, Yao said.
“What is the KMT afraid of?” he asked.
Regarding criticism from former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) that the bill is “most absurd and reminiscent of the Martial Law era,” Yao said that was a distortion of the facts and that Ma — who holds a doctorate in law from Harvard University — has wasted his legal expertise.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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