Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Liang Wenjie, left, speaks in the Legislative Yuan as Justice Minister Cheng Mingqian listens. Photography: Liu Xinde, Taipei Times
Strengthening the system: The Justice Department says it is working with agencies on proposals to define transnational crackdown crimes and impose heavy penalties
By Chen Yufu and Fan Kexin/Reporters, with Correspondent
A total of 131 Taiwanese have been subjected to 149 transnational repressions by China since 2005, Liang Wenjie (李文杰), deputy chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), told a Legislative Yuan meeting yesterday.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has employed nine forms of transnational repression against Taiwan: physical attacks, criminal prosecutions, psychological coercion, digital oppression, border controls, collective punishment, economic sanctions, interference with democratic institutions, and abuse of institutional mechanisms, Liang Wenjie said at a meeting of the Judicial and Organic Rules and Regulations Committee.
Physical attacks include assaults, paint-throwing attacks and fake traffic accidents, while criminal prosecutions involve the issuance of reward warrants, unlawful arrests and judicial proceedings, he said.
Psychological coercion ranges from labeling targets as "die-hard Taiwanese independence supporters" to monitoring and tracking them, he added.
Digital oppression includes disseminating satellite images of targets' homes and spreading disinformation, while border controls involve banning targets and their families from entering or exiting the country, Liang said.
Collective punishment involves threatening or harassing a victim's family, friends or business associates, while economic sanctions take the form of limiting who a target can do business with or freezing bank accounts, he said.
Interference in democracy involves attempts to intimidate civil servants to interfere with the normal functioning of state institutions, while abuse of institutional mechanisms includes abusing judicial processes, blocking international participation and using international organizations to restrict individual freedoms, he added.
The Chinese Communist Party targets politicians, defense and military personnel, judicial officials, academics and civil society figures, Liang said.
Cases involving Japanese political commentator Akio Yaita and Taiwanese comedian Huang Yihao (黄伊豪) illustrate violence by entities suspected of being linked to the Chinese Communist Party, he said, calling for a comprehensive response to China's escalating tactics.
By carrying out transnational repression against Taiwanese people in the name of "punishing Taiwanese independence supporters" while claiming that such actions are consistent with Chinese law, Beijing is trying to fabricate legal grounds to exercise jurisdiction over Taiwan, Liang said.
Existing laws do not adequately cover the tactics used in transnational repression, Justice Minister Cheng Meng Qian (Cheng Mingqian) told the conference.
Taiwan lacks a specific law targeting people who report Taiwanese suspected of Taiwanese independence activities through Chinese online portals, he said.
Stalking others for political reasons cannot be prosecuted under the Stalking and Harassment Prevention Act (Stalking and Harassment Prevention Act), which specifically applies to gender-related incidents, Zheng Mingqian said.
At the same time, statutory sentences for some crimes only take into account the harm caused to individuals and do not reflect the broader threat that intimidation poses to democracy, freedoms and the rule of law, the Ministry of Justice said.
For example, causing ordinary bodily harm is punishable by up to five years in prison under the Criminal Code, while damage to property and criminal threats are each punishable by up to two years, and unlawful surveillance or recording is punishable by up to three years, it said.
The department is working with other agencies to draft amendments to the Anti-Osmosis Law (Anti-Osmosis Law) to address these issues, Cheng Mingqian said.
The proposed amendments would define the crime of transnational repression and impose heavy penalties, he said, adding that the revisions would also cover different methods of repression and establish online dissemination and confiscation measures for such crimes.
