Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003 - Taiwan
| Publisher | United States Department of State |
| Author | Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism |
| Publication Date | 29 April 2004 |
| Cite as | United States Department of State, Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003 - Taiwan, 29 April 2004, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/468107c7b.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Taiwan has supported the global war on terrorism and taken steps to improve its counterterrorism laws and regulations. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Taiwan was quick to implement fully all increased security requirements requested by the US Transportation Security Administration and to increase security for the American Institute on Taiwan. In May 2002, Taiwan Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Yi-Fu said during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, that Taiwan fully supports the ongoing global war on terrorism. In October, President Chen Shui-Bian condemned the terrorist bombing in Bali and said that Taiwan would offer assistance to Indonesia.
Although Taiwan currently has no antiterrorism laws, the Taiwan Executive Yuan in October ordered the Ministry of Justice to draft a special antiterrorism law. The new law, if enacted, would simplify the process of freezing financial accounts and enhance the use of compulsory measures such as a prosecutor's power to search, detain, and summon suspects and witnesses. At the end of the year, the draft of the antiterrorism law had undergone an extensive interagency review process coordinated by the Executive Yuan and awaited consideration by the Legislative Yuan.
(In January 2003, the Legislative Yuan passed an enhanced anti-money-laundering law, which lowers the threshold of amounts required to report, raises the penalties for noncompliance, and allows the Government to seize suspicious bank accounts.) Even before the passage of this legislation, the Ministries of Finance and Justice had followed up on requests by the United States to check suspicious bank accounts in Taiwan.