The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus used the tyranny of the majority to ensure the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法) passed on Tuesday, People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), the party’s presidential candidate, said yesterday.
DPP legislators got the act passed without “coordination among government agencies, establishing enforcement rules or designating an administrative agency to oversee the act’s enforcement,” Soong said, adding that people’s rights would be violated because of the act.
Soong spoke against the act’s passage after attending an early morning flag-raising ceremony at Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, saying that the act would cause Taiwanese who frequently do business or engage in cultural activities and tourism in China to fear for their lives.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
“There are 2 million Taiwanese businesspeople in China and they need to attend a lot of activities there. In the future, they and their family members will need to prove to themselves that they are not doing anything to threaten national security. They will be presumed guilty and it will be their responsibility to prove their innocence,” Soong said, adding that the DPP would function like the Taiwan Garrison Command, which suppressed dissidents during the Martial Law era.
People falsely accused of breaching the act would not be able to appeal, which is a complete violation of human rights, he added.
Soong also said at a news conference on Tuesday night that the DPP was so eager to have the act passed before the presidential and legislative elections on Saturday next week, because it apparently intends to use it to influence the results.
“The act pits supporters of different candidates against one another and reinforces people’s anxieties about losing the nation someday if China’s influence and infiltration efforts go unchecked. Passage of the act is of direct benefit to the DPP. We strongly protest this immoral move, which has caused the nation’s democracy to backslide,” he said.
The DPP must not forget that he and other party pioneers worked together 30 years ago to amend Article 100 of the Criminal Code so that no one could be imprisoned for their political beliefs, Soong said, adding that passage of the Anti-infiltration Act is “green terror,” with many viewing it as something the authoritarian regime of the past would have done.
People should not underestimate the act’s impact, as it affects them, as well as their families, friends and classmates, he said, adding that allegations against them could be fabricated.
National security is a collective responsibility, but procedural justice and solid evidence is needed before someone can be proven guilty, Soong said, adding that people should not think that they must compromise their political beliefs just because they do not back the DPP.
Soong urged people to show that they are unwilling to compromise by who they vote for on Saturday next week.
“The elections need to ensure that our democratic values and rights will not be permanently damaged,” Soong said. “If we want to be in charge of the nation again, we should first let the DPP, a party that acts like a bully and a dictator, lose the power to govern by putting into action the votes in our hands.”
‘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