The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments to enable the confiscation of equipment used to dredge sand or gravel illegally to deter illegal dredging by Chinese ships.
The amendments to Article 36 of the Sand and Gravel Excavation Act (土石採取法) and Article 18 of the Act on the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf of the Republic of China (中華民國專屬經濟海域及大陸礁層法) state that vessels or other machinery involved in illegal activities can be confiscated, regardless of whether they belong to the perpetrator.
The proposals were made by Democratic Progressive Party legislators in light of an incident in April last year involving a Chinese vessel found dredging without permission in the waters southwest of Penghu County’s Cimei Township (七美).
Photo copied by Yu Chao-fu, Taipei Times
The first ruling sentenced the captain to one year, 10 months in prison and ordered the confiscation of the dredging vessel.
The second ruling on the case upheld the prison sentence, but said there was no legal basis to confiscate the vessel, as there was no way to prove it belonged to the defendant.
The case is awaiting trial at the Supreme Court after prosecutors appealed the second ruling.
Taiwan expelled Chinese vessels that were dredging illegally in the nation’s waters 5,328 times from 2017 to 2021, Coast Guard Administration data show.
The legislature passed an amendment to the act in 2021, increasing the penalties to a maximum of seven years in jail and a fine of up to NT$100 million (US$3.19 million).
Following the amendment, such incidents declined from a peak of 3,991 in 2020 to 665 in 2021 and 224 last year.
The legislature yesterday also passed amendments to Article 54 of the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法) to ban driving under the influence of drugs.
Those who use drugs, narcotics or other similar substances that prevent them from driving safely would face a prison sentence of up to three years and a fine of not more than NT$400,000.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠) yesterday said that he hoped the amendment would deter military personnel from driving under the influence of drugs, and help ensure the safety of the public and the armed forces.
Legislators also passed an amendment to the Military Camps Safety Maintenance Act (軍事營區安全維護條例) to prohibit surveying, photography, illustration, recorded and written descriptions, and other spying activities in military facilities.
Those who contravene the ban would face a prison sentence of up to three years.
Those who engage in such activities outside military facilities, but endanger the safety of the military would face a fine of between NT$30,000 and NT$150,000, the amendment says.
Military facilities refer to important military installations or agencies, as well as military exercises or military training areas set by the authorities, it says.
Military agencies refer to the Ministry of National Defense and its affiliated agencies, troops and schools, along with the National Security Bureau and the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, it says.
Commanders, officers on duty and non-commissioned officers can order forcible eviction or take other necessary measures against those who enter military facilities without permission, it says.
Offenders can be given a warning or face a fine of between NT$40,000 and NT$200,000, it says.
Fines can be imposed for each contravention if the offender refuses to leave after being warned, it says.
Those entering military facilities with certain items without the permission of military agencies — including cameras, observation equipment, guns, ammunition, knives or other dangerous items — and refusing to hand them over for safekeeping can face a fine of between NT$10,000 and NT$50,000, it says.
If sufficient factual evidence shows that a person is spying or collecting classified national security information or military or national defense secrets, they would be arrested and handed over to prosecutors or judicial officials, it says.
People will not be prohibited from taking photographs of or filming the takeoff and landing of fighter jets unless it endangers military operations and safety, it says.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS