Dec. 3
CHINA:
Lawmakers to review espionage bill----The amendment aims to work around Chinese
spies' actions not being considered 'foreign aggression' due to the
Constitution including China in the nation
The Legislative Yuan's Judicial Committee is tomorrow to review a draft
amendment to the Criminal Code proposed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
Legislator Wang Ding-yu stipulating that Chinese spies and their collaborators
should be convicted of "offenses against the external security of the state".
None of the punishments stipulated in the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces,
the National Security Act, the Classified National Security Information
Protection Act and the National Intelligence Services Act are strict enough to
deter spies, Wang said.
While those laws have been amended over the past few years to stipulate
stricter penalties, they are still too lenient and have proven ineffective in
deterring spies, he said.
Former Chinese People's Liberation Army intelligence officer Zhen Xiaojiang,
the mastermind behind the nation's most serious security breach, in 2015
received a 4-year prison term under the National Security Act.
Retired major general Hsu Nai-chuan was given a 34-month sentence for colluding
with Zhen, with his pension payments to resume once he leaves jail.
Had the pair been tried under the Criminal Code, they could have received a
life sentence or the death penalty.
However, as the Constitution includes China in the nation's territory, their
crimes are not legally regarded as "foreign aggression."
The bill aims to circumvent the legal obstacle by changing the wording in the
Criminal Code addressing espionage from "foreign nations" to "foreign nations
or the nation's enemies" and from "enemy nations" to "enemies". The bill
defines "enemies" as "countries or organizations that engage in armed conflict
or a military standoff with the Republic of China", the wording used in the
Criminal Code of the Armed Forces.
Only by associating Chinese spies with offenses against the security of the
state by a foreign aggressor can they be effectively curbed, Wang said.
Wang submitted the legislation in November last year, but the Chinese
Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus struck it down 10 times before the DPP caucus on
Tuesday voted to send it to committee review.
The Ministry of Justice said the laws are in place to punish any action that
compromises national security or is against the nation's interests.
It advised against amending the Criminal Code, saying that the wording in one
of the bill's articles alternates between "enemies" and "enemy nations" and
includes "the nation," which it called a loophole.
(source: Taipei Times)
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