HIGHER GROUND: Many mountains were off-limits prior to 1991 to prevent spies from hiding there, but modern spies are unlikely to do so, the DPP lawmaker said

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 14, 2018
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

An outdated article in the National Security Act (國家安全法) that designates mountains as restricted areas should be abolished, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) said yesterday, citing an incident in January last year in which nine mountaineers were convicted of climbing a mountain because they had not applied for entry passes.

One of the mountaineers, Aucat Gemaduan of the Paiwan community, told a news conference in Taipei that they were given a written warning and told to go back when passing through a checkpoint on Lioushunshan (六順山) in Nantou County.

“What we cannot get through our heads is why this group of well-behaved citizens should be charged with violating the act,” he said, adding that the case was likely the only one in the nation’s history that saw mountaineers convicted for this reason.

Lioushunshan, which is accessible through the Danda Forest Trail (丹大林道), is in one of the nation’s most breathtaking mountain areas, so many people climb the mountain without applying for an entry pass, because they do not know it is restricted under Article 5 of the act, he said.    [FULL  STORY]