Legislative committee condemns China 'long-arm jurisdiction' efforts

Taipei, Nov. 24 (CNA)The Legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday passed a motion condemning China's "long-arm jurisdiction" over Taiwan citizens alleged to be military intelligence workers.

The motion, put forth by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, said that the recent action by China's provincial governments, which offered cash bounties for information leading to the arrest of alleged psychological operations officers in Taiwan, amounted to provocation and a serious violation of Taiwan's sovereignty.

China "has no jurisdiction" over the people of Taiwan, the motion said, stressing that Taiwan will never allow Beijing's attempts at "long-arm jurisdiction."

The motion was initiated by DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), convener of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, and endorsed by three other DPP lawmakers.

On Monday, the motion was passed unanimously by the six committee members who attended the session, while the seven members from the opposition Kuomintang and Taiwan People's Party did not show up.

During the session, the committee also unanimously passed another motion initiated by Wang, condemning China's distortion of United Nations Resolution 2758, adopted in 1971, which Beijing has used as the basis for its sovereignty claim over Taiwan.

The motions stemmed from a notice issued on Oct. 11 by the public security bureau of China's Xiamen City, publicizing the names, photographs, and Taiwan identification card numbers of 18 people it alleged to be "core members" of a "psychological warfare unit" within the Taiwanese military.

In the public notice, the bureau offered a cash reward of 10,000 Chinese yuan (US$1,400) to anyone who could provide information that would lead to the arrest of the 18 Taiwanese wanted for "separatist activities."

On June 5, China also offered similar bounties for information that would help with the arrest of 20 Taiwanese it deemed to be "military hackers."

Taiwan's top intelligence chief last month said the notices issued by local authorities in China were part of that country's "cognitive warfare."

China's allegations are a "mixture of publicly available information and falsehoods," National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said at the time. He did not confirm whether the persons listed by China were actually psychological operations officers within Taiwan's military.

On Nov. 19, the Legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee passed a motion condemning a criminal investigation being carried out by China into DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) on allegations of "secession-related" criminal activities deemed to be advocating Taiwan independence.