Article 103 of the Criminal Code states: “Any person colluding with a foreign state or its agent with intent that such state or other state start war against the Republic of China [ROC] shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment. An attempt to commit an offense specified in the preceding paragraph is punishable. Any person preparing or conspiring to commit an offense specified in paragraph 1 shall be sentenced to imprisonment not less than three years but not more than ten years.”
Article 104 states: “Any person colluding with a foreign state or its agent with intent to subject territory of the Republic of China to such state or other state shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment. An attempt to commit an offense specified in the preceding paragraph is punishable. Any person preparing or conspiring to commit and offense specified in paragraph 1 shall be sentenced to imprisonment not less than three years but not more than ten years.”
Advocating for China’s forced military unification with Taiwan clearly carries the intent of encouraging China to initiate war against Taiwan. It carries the intent to make the territory currently governed by Taiwan belong to China.
Both of these are serious crimes explicitly outlined in Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code: “Treason.” The acts do not necessarily need to be fully realized — it constitutes a crime so long as there is “intent.”
Within the regulations outlined in the “Treason” chapter of the Criminal Code, Article 115-1 states: “The offense set forth in this chapter shall also apply to offenses committed in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, or any hostile foreign forces, or to the agents thereof. The offender who violates any provision of this chapter shall be punished in accordance with such provision.”
Therefore, these regulations also apply to such acts committed within or involving China, Hong Kong, Macau and any hostile foreign forces or their agents.
Clearly, China’s intent to use military force to unify with Taiwan classifies it as a “foreign hostile force.”
Furthermore, “collusion” was legally defined in the 1984 Supreme Court Ruling No. 2364, which states that the communication of intent that defines collusion is not limited to prior planning — the communication of shared criminal intent at the time of the act also constitutes collusion.
Moreover, the method by which this intent is expressed does not need to be explicit. A tacit agreement between parties is also sufficient. In other words, the legal grounds for “collusion” could be established whether such an agreement occurs prior to or during the act, or is made explicitly or implicitly.
Making statements in support of China unifying Taiwan through military force — if done under the instructions of or in coordination with China’s “united front” organizations or their agents, or in an agreement to act as an internal accomplice — could be classified as having made an explicit or implicit agreement.
Thus, such actions constitute the offense of treason as defined by the Criminal Code.
Li Chin-i is head prosecutor at the Taichung Branch of the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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