A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator yesterday said he has submitted a bill that would stipulate penalties for certain espionage-related activities.
The National Security Act (國家安全法) does not stipulate penalties for participating in organizational activities on behalf of a foreign power, or the recruitment of people for such activities, DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said.
The bill would apply in situations such as the case of former army colonel Hsiang Te-en (向德恩) who was last year sentenced to seven years and six months in prison by the Kaohsiung District Court for accepting NT$560,000 in bribes from Chinese sources to work as a spy, Wang said.
Photo: Reuters
Hsiang had also signed a letter of surrender with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), posing in a photograph with the document in military attire and pledging assistance, to the best of his abilities, in the event of an invasion.
Hsiang received a relatively lenient sentence because current laws do not stipulate penalties for contraventions such as pledging allegiance to an enemy and cooperating with an enemy in “united front” operations, Wang said.
“Hsiang’s case has ignited concerns at all levels about how the government should respond to Chinese infiltration,” he said.
In February last year, the Ministry of Justice invited the National Security Bureau, the Mainland Affairs Council, the Investigation Bureau and local prosecutors’ offices to discuss the matter, he said.
“Most of the officials who attended the discussion expressed their belief that to maintain national security, it must be illegal for even former military personnel to pledge allegiance to the CCP,” he said.
Article 2 of the National Security Act only prohibits “initiating, funding, hosting, manipulating, directing or developing an organization” for hostile foreign forces.
The bill would add participating in organizational activities to the act, he said.
The article also stipulates that those found “disclosing, delivering or transmitting confidential documents” may be sentenced to one to seven years imprisonment, while those found “collecting confidential documents” through espionage may be sentenced to between six months and five years.
The amendment would increase those sentences, because such acts could threaten the safety of national security personnel or the execution of their missions, or could result in the arrest of intelligence personnel, confiscation of property or destruction of facilities, which would harm national interests, he said.
The amendments would apply to military personnel or civil servants who use their authority to develop organizations on behalf of hostile foreign forces, he said.
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
INDUSTRIAL CLUSTER: In Germany, the sector would be developed around Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s plant, and extend to Poland and the Czech Republic The Executive Yuan’s economic diplomacy task force has approved programs aimed at bolstering the nation’s chip diplomacy with Japan and European nations. The task force in its first meeting had its operational mechanism and organizational structure confirmed, with Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) the convener, and Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and Minister Without Portfolio Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) the deputy conveners. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) would be the convener of the task force’s strategy group in charge of policy planning for economic diplomacy. The meeting was attended by the heads of the National Development Council, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the
RSS