The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday described the passage of the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法) as a minimal but correct step.
Although the act provides a stronger legal tool to fight Chinese infiltration, there is obvious room for improvement, the party said in a statement.
For example, the act does not bar people from taking control of Taiwanese media outlets or running political advertisements for Beijing under the instruction or sponsorship of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the NPP said.
Nor does it bar people from spreading false information, which could affect national security, or releasing joint statements with the CCP to undermine Taiwan’s freedom and democracy under the instruction or sponsorship of the CCP, it said.
While the NPP had proposed motions to add articles addressing those areas, they were blocked by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus, it added.
Other areas that the act does not address include running for office, initiating referendums, purchasing key national infrastructure or politically sensitive technologies under the instruction or sponsorship of the CCP, the NPP said.
To protect the nation’s democracy, related laws must be further enhanced, it said.
While the act marks an important step toward building a stronger defense mechanism for Taiwan’s democracy, it is not “fully satisfactory” in its content, NPP Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said in a livesteam.
The behaviors banned in the act are “minimal,” he said, adding that he finds it especially regrettable that the NPP’s proposal to add articles curbing Chinese infiltration of Taiwanese media was blocked.
Under current laws, Taiwanese media outlets running propaganda about unification for the CCP would be fined NT$100,000 to NT$500,000, he said.
To address the issue, he and Internet celebrity Holger Chen (陳之漢) on June 23 last year held a rally to call for tougher legislation to counter pro-China media outlets spreading fake news, he said.
Hopefully, all the important bills that failed to pass could be picked up in the next legislative session, he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS