DPP bill targets military retirees accused of spying

A KMT legislator proposed adding combat bonuses for soldiers and removing forms of corporal punishment in an effort to bolster recruitment

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators have proposed an amendment to strip benefits from military retirees who have received suspended sentences for espionage-related offenses.

China frequently uses retired military officers to “build bridges” with active-duty military personnel in Taiwan, but under the law only those who have received sentences for contraventions stipulated in the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法) or the National Security Act (國家安全法) would lose their retirement benefits, DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said.

The 14 retirees who have been sentenced for espionage-related offenses under those laws have been ordered to repay about NT$40 million (US$1.23 million) worth of benefits, but 85 percent of that remains outstanding, DPP Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said, adding that the convicted retirees could also avoid paying by applying for administrative relief.

Shen and Lin, along with DPP legislators Wu Li-hua (伍麗華), Lin Yi-chin (林宜瑾) and Tsai Yiyu (蔡易餘), last week submitted a draft amendment for the Act of Military Service for Officers and Non-commissioned Officers of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍軍官士官服役條例) to the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.

The service regulations for officers and non-commissioned officers of the army, navy and air force stipulate that those who commit acts that facilitate civil strife or foreign invasion, or that endanger national security through the sharing of national secrets with a foreign power and are sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment, must lose their retirement benefits.

The proposed amendment adds that in cases where the prosecutor does not pursue a case or defers prosecution, or where a sentence has not yet been determined, the retiree would also lose their benefits.

Separately, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers last week submitted proposed amendments to national defense-related laws to the committee for review.

KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) proposed amending Article 5 of the Pay Act of the Armed Forces (軍人待遇條例) to add a “combat bonus” for officers and soldiers serving in combat and combat support units to increase recruitment incentives.

Hsu also proposed amending the Armed Forces Punishment Act (陸海空軍懲罰法) to remove forms of corporal punishment, which she said had no educational benefit for soldiers and would deter recruitment.

KMT Legislator-at-large Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) proposed an amendment to Article 34 of the Military Trial Act (軍事審判法) to stipulate that cases of military personnel involving the Criminal Code be handled by military trial.

The law was amended following former army corporal Hung Chungchiu’s (洪仲丘) death in 2013 to have cases handled by the civilian criminal court system, which led to criticism that it would harm military interests and national security.