The Ministry of National Defense (MND) is planning amendments to the General Mobilization Act (全民防衛動員準備法) to augment the nation’s mobilization preparedness.
In its draft amendments, the ministry is planning to include separate mobilization categories for the media, finance and information and communications sectors.
There would be preparation phases for workforce allotment, finance, transportation, health and sanitation, technology, and the military, the draft amendments say.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Regarding the information and communications sector, authorities would have a mandate to reorganize personnel working in publication, broadcasting, Internet platforms or other media service providers to handle the documentation and investigation of news and false information, the ministry said.
Preparations for the finance sector would include efforts to stabilize domestic finances and foreign-exchange rates, the draft amendments say.
The draft would include pre-mobilization preparations and actual mobilization, and the act’s name would be changed to the “available mobilization act.”
Mobilization preparations encompass peacetime preparations, while mobilization is defined as when the president orders a general or partial mobilization — in accordance with the Constitution — in the event that war breaks out, war is imminent or due to a disaster emergency.
Once the president declares mobilization, all readiness programs would transition to actual mobilization status, the draft amendments say.
The Executive Yuan would establish a reaction center to lead local government reaction centers. Local governments, if ordered to, would have priority access to all media and communications devices to report on the status of the war, emergency contingencies and other related information, the drafts says.
Once amended, the act would give the central government the power to allocate resources among all levels of government.
People caught driving up prices or hoarding goods without a legitimate reason would face a prison sentence of one to seven years and a fine of NT$5 million (US$164,042), the draft amendments say.
Individuals drafted by the government who fail to appear at the designated area at the appointed time would be sentenced to up to seven years in prison and have to pay a fine of NT$7 million.
Those disseminating false information on mobilization or drafting that could harm others during mobilization would face up to three years of prison and and a fine of NT$1 million.
The draft amendments say that those who disseminate false information via broadcast, electronic communications or the Internet could have their sentence doubled.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS