The Legislative Yuan on Tuesday passed amendments to the Act for the Establishment of the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (國家中山科學研究院設置條例) to impose travel restrictions on institute employees to protect technological secrets, among other changes.
The amendments are part of an effort to address regulatory issues arising from the institute’s decoupling from the Ministry of National Defense in 2014, which turned the nation’s defense research and development group into a governmental foundation.
If the amendments are promulgated, institute employees would have to obtain permission from authorities before traveling abroad.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The amendments would also allow the institute to hire active-service military personnel, which eliminates bureaucratic rules that lawmakers across the political divide considered an impediment to the institute’s work.
The amendments authorize the institute to employ up to 858 active-service personnel with the appropriate technical expertise and exempt it from Paragraph 1, Article 20 of the Non-Departmental Public Bodies Act (行政法人法).
This means members of the armed forces can be employed at the institute while keeping their active-service status and benefits.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Yu-ling (呂玉玲) were among the bipartisan group of lawmakers who proposed the changes to the hiring rules.
The amendments would facilitate the recruitment of military-trained engineers and experts, and give the institute the flexibility it needs to design the military’s weapons and equipment, the amendments’ statement of purpose said.
Performance evaluations at the institute must be stepped up, including following certain defense ministry protocols when conducting on-site re-evaluations, the amendments say, adding that re-evaluation reports must include a justification of their findings.
No gender should be represented by more than 75 percent of performance evaluation personnel, the amendments said.
Lawmakers said in an attached resolution that the defense ministry should within six months report to lawmakers on proposals to create a liaison system between the institute’s military officers and the armed forces.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS