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.”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final
EYE ON MAYORS: The DPP would file a complaint with the Control Yuan against Ko and Chiang over their handling of reports of abuse at a preschool in the city The Taipei City Government’s belated response under Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) and his predecessor, Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), to alleged child sex abuse at a kindergarten resulted in more children being victimized, two Taipei City Councilors said yesterday. A Taipei preschool teacher has been charged with sexually abusing six children from 2021 to last year at a school registered to his mother. Prosecutors are reportedly considering additional charges amid a wave of new accusations allegedly linking the suspect to 20 other abused children and the discovery at his residence of more than 600 sexually explicit videos featuring minors. The
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from