TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) has directed a review of loyalty checks for civil servants amid a spate of Chinese spy cases.
The recent spy cases, including individuals such as Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑), who was an aide to NSC Security-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) when Wu served as foreign minister, have raised alarms. Cabinet spokesperson Lee Hui-chih (李慧芝) relayed Cho's remarks during a press conference on Thursday, emphasizing that the government must respond to “increasingly serious infiltration by hostile foreign forces,” per CNA.
Cho said that under Article 4 of the Civil Service Employment Act, civil servants involved in national security or critical interests must undergo special vetting. He said it is necessary to re-examine the systems to determine whether there has been inadequate enforcement or if the regulations need improvement.
Cho said that while he believes most civil servants abide by the law, the government must strengthen institutional safeguards. He has asked Minister without Portfolio Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) to develop a plan within two weeks and urged civil servants to build their national security awareness and loyalty.
Lee pointed out that current loyalty checks are based on job rank and title, rather than the level of access to classified information. Therefore, the latter may be a direction for future review, said Lee.
At the same press conference, the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Minister Su Chun-jung (蘇俊榮), said that those involved in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs case had undergone loyalty checks when hired. However, the government is considering whether regular annual checks should be conducted.
When asked by the media whether revisiting the loyalty check process would require amending the Civil Service Employment Act, Lin said that regulations already include vetting procedures. Lin said the priority will be to assess whether the issue lies in inadequate implementation or if the regulations need to be strengthened.
Lin said if future amendments move toward implementing regular or ad hoc checks after appointment, such measures would fall outside the scope of the act.
In addition, the government has recently required public servants to sign declarations that they are not registered residents in China. However, Deputy Director of the Mainland Affairs Council's Legal Affairs Division, Tung Yu-yun (董玉芸), said at the press conference that detailed results have not yet been released.
