Worried about the infiltration of the political arena! The Legislative Yuan follows the loophole in political donations, accepting Virtual Money donations or supervision

The Control Yuan is concerned that the penalties are too low, and the Ministry of the Interior is worried about Virtual Money infiltrating Taiwan's political arena

Legislative Yuan report points out: Control Yuan's penalty ratio is low

The Central News Agency reported that the Budget Center of the Legislative Yuan recently pointed out in its report that in over 50% of the cases of political donation audits by the Control Yuan in the past decade, there have been no penalties imposed, and the ratio of not penalizing potential candidates is even higher. The Budget Center believes that the Control Yuan should comprehensively review the current regulations, especially whether the related political donations of Virtual Money and online platform Donate should be included in the regulations, to ensure that new forms of donations can be regulated and avoid becoming a gray area.

Control Yuan: Has suggested the Ministry of the Interior to evaluate the impact of Virtual Money donations

Regarding the report from the Legislative Yuan, the Control Yuan immediately issued a press release in response, pointing out that it is not the competent authority for the Political Donations Act. If the law is applicable or if there are deficiencies in the provisions, they should be explained or amended by the Ministry of the Interior. The Control Yuan further stated that for some live streamers who are also potential candidates, if they receive 'tokens' as political donations on platforms like YouTube, whether these internet platform tokens should be prohibited as donation targets, the Control Yuan had already recommended the Ministry of the Interior to study this issue at the end of last year. The Ministry of the Interior also responded in January this year, stating that it will consult with relevant agencies for further study.

The Ministry of the Interior assesses that Virtual Money may become a channel for foreign forces to infiltrate.

After evaluating the risk of Virtual Money as political donations, the Ministry of the Interior believes that Virtual Money has cross-border circulation. If it is allowed as a donation target, it may become a channel for foreign forces to intervene in Taiwan's political situation. In order to ensure the transparency and security of political donations, the Ministry of the Interior believes that political donations should be limited to funds that can be used immediately and clearly. Therefore, it is explicitly stipulated in the draft amendment to the Political Donations Act that Virtual Money cannot be used as a donation target. The draft is currently under review by the Executive Yuan.

The Political Donations Act promotes advocacy, with the Control Yuan emphasizing reduced instances of illegal cases.

The Control Yuan stated that it has always followed the principle of 'emphasis on promotion over punishment' in enforcing the Political Donations Act. In order to assist donors and recipients in understanding the regulations, the Control Yuan has conducted diverse promotions through video, internet, and on-site explanations. Since 2010, the Control Yuan has established the 'Political Donation Online Declaration System' and continuously improved its system functions, including the function of verifying the information of donors who cannot donate political donations. This allows political parties and candidates to quickly check whether they have violated the law after receiving political donations. If the donation does not comply with the regulations, it can be returned or deposited, significantly dropping the situation of illegally receiving political donations.

During the election period, verify: large illegal donations are refunded.

According to statistics from the Control Yuan, during the 2020 presidential and vice presidential elections, the prospective candidates returned a total of 283 illegal donations, amounting to NT$28,410,019.94. During the legislative elections, the prospective candidates returned 815 donations, amounting to NT$73,227,927. The Control Yuan pointed out that according to Article 15 of the Political Donations Act, if both parties involved in the donation return political donations that do not comply with the regulations, no further penalties will be imposed. The media's report on the 'over 50% non-punishment rate' may not fully grasp the content of the regulations.

Key points of the Political Donation Law: openness and transparency, with penalties only as an auxiliary measure.

The Control Yuan emphasizes that the purpose of the Political Donations Act is to promote citizen participation in politics and ensure the fairness and justice of political activities. The main approach is to make the political donation accounting reports of political parties and potential candidates public, allowing the public to supervise, and to replace excessive reliance on penalties with transparency as a preventive measure. Penalties are only auxiliary mechanisms, not the ultimate goal.

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This article is authorized for reprinted from: "Chain News"