Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) today proposed amendments to Taiwan’s martial law legislation in light of South Korea’s short-lived emergency declaration on Tuesday last week.
Taiwan’s Martial Law Act (戒嚴法), which has not been changed since April 1948, contains large loopholes, Hsu said in a news release.
Hsu’s proposed changes to the Martial Law Act and the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) seek to protect Taiwan’s democracy from exploitation by shortening the time frame during which a president’s martial law declaration must be approved by the Legislative Yuan from one month to 24 hours, she said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol last week suddenly declared martial law and deployed troops to the National Assembly.
After 190 lawmakers voted to reject the motion, Yoon revoked the order within two hours of its announcement.
Hsu said the South Korean parliament’s veto led her to look at Taiwan’s own legislation.
Taiwan’s law states that, after a president has declared martial law, it must be sent to the Legislative Yuan for ratification within one month, she said.
In other words, there is an entire month during which the president could abuse their power, deploy troops and seize political opponents, she said.
The current legislation also does not clarify a process or time period for the Legislative Yuan to examine and deliberate a martial law declaration, she said.
Within two hours of Yoon’s emergency declaration, the South Korean National Assembly gathered to reject the measure, Hsu said.
She therefore drafted an amendment to Article 1 of the Martial Law Act requiring the president to report to the Legislative Yuan within eight hours and enforcing a 24-hour limit for the chamber to examine the proposal and come to a decision, she said.
If a decision is not reached, martial law would not take effect, she said.
Taiwan’s democratic system was hard-earned and must be protected by all Taiwanese to avoid a minority finding loopholes to exploit, she said.
The proposal would be submitted to the Legislative Yuan’s Procedure Committee tomorrow, she said.
The first reading would likely be completed on Friday before being referred to the appropriate committees for examination, she added.
At a separate news conference, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that the party has been clear that it opposes any use of martial law.
The KMT is sensationalizing martial law and using it as a political bargaining chip, DPP Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) added.
The KMT were the instigators of 38 years of martial law in Taiwan, Wu said, questioning the necessity and urgency of discussing the matter, particularly as the main objective of the current session is to pass the government budget.
‘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 High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and