‘ONE CHINA’:The amendment aims to work around Chinese spies’ actions not being considered ‘foreign aggression’ due to the Constitution including China in the nation
Taipei Times
Date: Dec 03, 2017
By: Tseng Wei-chen / Staff reporter
The Legislative Yuan’s Judicial Committee is tomorrow to review a draft amendment to
People’s Liberation Army intelligence officer Zhen Xiaojiang is escorted out of the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Jan. 16, 2015. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
the Criminal Code proposed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) stipulating that Chinese spies and their collaborators should be convicted of “offenses against the external security of the state” (外患罪).
None of the punishments stipulated in the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法), the National Security Act (國家安全法), the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) and the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法) 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 (鎮小江), the mastermind behind the nation’s most serious security breach, in 2015 received a four-year prison term under the National Security Act.
Retired major general Hsu Nai-chuan (許乃權) 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. [FULL STORY]
