Facing the increasingly serious infiltration of hostile forces from abroad, Taiwan’s Premier John Tsai stated that in recent times, several espionage cases have been cracked down by the government through active investigation. The infiltrated agencies are mostly sensitive units that require special attention. All individuals involved in these cases will be punished according to the law. The government should further strengthen national security mechanisms to protect public servants.
According to the spokesperson of the Executive Yuan, Li Huizhi, Premier Tsai emphasized the need to conduct special checks on public servants involved in national security or major interests according to Article 4 of the Civil Service Employment Act. However, it is necessary to review the relevant systems and their implementation to determine if they have not been effectively carried out or if adjustments are required to respond to changing circumstances. This is necessary to effectively prevent the extreme infiltration of hostile forces from abroad.
Premier Tsai stressed that he believes the vast majority of public servants abide by the law and serve the people. However, to safeguard national security and the democratic way of life, the government must strengthen institutional checks, and more robust measures can provide stronger protection for all public servants.
Premier Tsai instructed Deputy Minister of the Political Affairs Committee, Ma Yongcheng, to convene relevant departments within two weeks to discuss strengthening solutions. He also urged all public servants to enhance their awareness of national security. As public servants, they must remain loyal to the country.
Li Huizhi noted that loyalty checks are currently based on job grades and titles rather than the level of exposure to confidential information. This could be a direction to be reviewed in the future.
Regarding the espionage case of former assistant Ho Renjie during Xu Zaoshe’s tenure as Secretary-General of Taiwan’s National Security Council and subsequently Foreign Minister, Su Junrong, Director of Personnel Administration at the Executive Yuan, said that loyalty checks were conducted during his tenure. Moving forward, the consideration is how to implement this effectively, perhaps through annual checks, an area for improvement for the Executive Yuan.