Amid allegations of security leaks over the indigenous submarine program, a legislator was accused of feeding sensitive information to a third nation, resulting in the arrests of engineers by overseas agents and action against a foreign contractor that helped build the first vessel.
Legislators are not the only people who work at the Legislative Yuan, so even with closed-door meetings, there is no guarantee that secrets would not leak.
Every information leak potentially poses a huge threat to national security, whether it is due to political interests, ineptitude or dereliction of duty.
Under normal circumstances, lawmakers would not pay attention to sensitive information from administrative institutions. Their role is to focus on a wide range of major policy issues related to their professional backgrounds.
Given this, the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee should read through sensitive information provided by the Ministry of National Defense and pass on only what is necessary. That would help prevent national security risks due to a lack of discipline among lawmakers.
In advanced democracies, parliamentary systems center on standing committees, normally consisting of senior lawmakers with backgrounds related to a committee’s nature.
In Taiwan, the legislature is controlled by party caucuses, and it does not pay so much attention to the nature and aim of each committee.
The allegations against the Foreign and National Defense Committee lawmaker have been filed, with a prosecution possible.
The incident should be a warning to party leaders to think twice about whom they nominate as lawmakers. The capabilities and character of potential legislators should be carefully considered, especially the history and professional background of those who are put on committees.
Taiwan was given a “B” in the Government Defence Integrity Index compiled by Transparency International UK’s Transparency International Defence and Security program, which said that Taiwan’s “parliamentary oversight is well established and effective,” but added that its defense committee members are not professional enough and there is a risk of corruption.
However, this issue is out of the hands of the Ministry of National Defense — it can only be solved by political parties.
Tsao Yao-chun is a researcher with the Chinese Association of Public Affairs Management and an expert in evaluating international government integrity.
Translated by Rita Wang
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