A bill that establishes penalties for attempted human trafficking passed the Legislative Yuan yesterday, with offenders to face up to seven years in prison.
The newly passed amendments to the Human Trafficking Prevention Act (人口販運防制法) stipulate that those who attempt to use force, threats, intimidation or fraud to recruit, trade, take into bondage, transport, deliver, receive, harbor, hide, broker or accommodate a person would be sentenced to up to five years in jail.
A penalty of up to seven years in jail would be handed to offenders who attempt to traffic someone under the age of 18, the amendments say.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The amendments were approved by the Cabinet on March 23, and submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review when the government was under pressure to tighten punishments for human trafficking and attempted human trafficking.
The public outcry followed a series of incidents last year in which hundreds of Taiwanese were lured to Cambodia by gangs with lucrative job offers, only to be held against their will and forced to work in telecommunications scams or as prostitutes.
In accordance with international practices, the amendments employ a broad definition of human trafficking, which includes the conduct of offenders who use forced labor, pay their workers disproportionately, or treat them as slaves.
The amendments would apply even in cases where a potential victim is prevented from boarding a plane by police intervention at an airport, or otherwise rescued before being trafficked abroad.
Previously, the authorities were able — based on the need for an investigation or trial — to grant a visitor permit for up to six months to any non-Taiwanese human trafficking victim.
The amendments extend the period of stay for such people to up to one year, to encourage them to work with investigators.
The amendments stipulate that foreign victims would be granted accommodation and financial assistance if they stay in Taiwan, as well as being accompanied by law enforcement officials to court hearings.
The amendments allow individuals to appeal the outcome of cases.
Anyone found guilty by a court, whether an individual or an institution, cannot bid for public work projects for five years, the amendments say.
Also yesterday, the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment that seeks to curb identity fraud and money laundering using other people’s financial accounts.
The amendment to the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) stipulates a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment, or a fine of up to NT$1 million (US$32,503), for those found guilty of selling financial accounts or account numbers.
Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) said the amendment was needed to curb a growing number of fraud cases that had “caused great financial loss for many people.”
“If we cannot tackle the issue of identity fraud for misappropriating financial accounts, then we will be unable to tackle fraud crime in general,” he said.
The amendment includes the addition of Article 15-2, which stipulates that no one can hand over or provide financial account information to others without a justified reason, he said.
The final version of the amendment applies to financial accounts at banks and other traditional financial institutions, virtual currency trading platforms and third-party payment services.
However, the newly stipulated restrictions on sharing account information would not apply to “general business and financial transaction practices, in which sharing of this information is justified and required, or transactions based on a relationship of trust between relatives and friends, or other legitimate reasons,” he said.
The amendment stipulates that financial institutions, virtual currency trading platforms and third-party payment services close within a specified period all accounts identified as being associated with identity fraud.
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
RSS