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Defense officials
alter law to better screen employees
By Fan Cheng-hsiang / Staff Reporter
The Ministry of National Defense is set to amend Article 4 of the Regulations of
Personnel Security Investigation for Participants in the National Defense
Security Program (涉及國家安全或重大利益公務人員特殊查核辦法) to better screen national
security-related employees, the Executive Yuan Gazette said.
The act was passed in accordance with the Defense Act (國防法) as a type of
administrative order. The Administrative Procedure Law (行政程序法) stipulates that
amendments to the regulations need only be announced in the Gazette and do not
need legislative approval.
Questions or opinions concerning the announcement’s contents must be typed out
and filed with the General Political Warfare Bureau’s security section within
seven days.
The regulations were enacted in May 2001, when the Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP) was in power.
The ministry said the President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration’s inclusion of
national loyalty and security in the parameters of investigation in the
amendment was an effort to “reinforce security and safety of national
-defense-related personnel.”
The amended article says that security investigations will now include items
such as: loyalty to the nation, influence by foreign or enemy forces, personal
records, economic welfare, physical health and violation of national defense
administrative information.
In addition, the amended article also empowers the security section to gather
information on the person under investigation, including nationality, credit
card information and medical records.
The security section is allowed to use scientific equipment and psychological
tests on the investigated person to verify information.
National Taiwan University professor Cheng Ching-jen (鄭欽仁) said the language
raised doubts on whether the investigations would be just and above party
politics, making it difficult to avoid a “white terror” within military ranks, a
reference to decades of repression of Taiwanese by the Chinese Nationalist Party
(KMT), during which thousands of people disappeared, were detained or killed.
Cheng said the Ma administration’s definition of “influenced by foreign or enemy
powers” would be especially ironic in light of the Ma government’s China-leaning
policies.
Cheng said that rather than investigating “national defense-related personnel,”
the Ma administration should investigate potential security leaks among retired
senior military officials who often visit China.
The announcement comes a little more than two months after Army General Lo
Hsien-che (羅賢哲) was arrested on suspicion of passing classified defense
information to a Chinese handler since 2004.
Additional reporting by Staff Writer
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