Twenty-one lawmakers have proposed amendments to the National Security Act (國家安全法) and National Intelligence Service Act (國家情報工作法), seeking to redefine the scope of classified information and impose heavier sanctions on those leaking it to hostile nations.
The amendments, proposed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) and 20 other lawmakers, are designed to deter people from leaking confidential information by severely punishing offenders.
On average, offenders are sentenced to only six months in prison, even if the cases against them were backed up by solid evidence, the lawmakers said.
Photo: Reuters
Such an inconsequential penalty only emboldens those who intend to leak confidential information to China and would compromise national security, they said.
The proposed amendment to the National Intelligence Service Act would require that those accused of security breaches be tried in a special court presided over by judges with expertise in national security, the lawmakers said.
Judges at this court would have to complete on-the-job training every year, and the Judicial Yuan would be authorized to prescribe the minimum number of hours of training needed, they said.
The amendment to Article 2 of the National Security Act would expand the definition of confidential documents from those that are only for official use to those involving national security and the public interest, the lawmakers said.
People who disclose, deliver or transmit confidential documents to China or another hostile nation would be sentenced to three to 10 years in prison and fined up to NT$30 million (US$949,187), they said, adding that the current penalty is one to seven years in prison and a fine of up to NT$10 million.
In other news, the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee is scheduled to hold a meeting today to hear a presentation from Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) about the coast guard’s pursuit of a Chinese boat, which led to the vessel capsizing, causing the deaths of two Chinese.
Lawmakers have taken issue with the council unilaterally changing the committee’s title for the presentation from “Kinmen boat ramming case” to “Incident in cracking down on Chinese speedboat.”
DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) yesterday said that the wording of the committee’s original title harbored a pre-determined stance that naturally invited discussion.
She added that her caucus has issued a “top mobilization” order requiring party members to attend the meeting today.
Additional reporting by Hsieh Chun-lin
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
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS