The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday provided what it said was evidence to back its claim that Beijing was interfering in Taiwan’s elections by helping President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) re-election campaign.
In a press release sent out on Sunday, DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) listed five ways in which China had interfered with the election, including sending provincial-level purchasing delegations and providing incentives to mobilize Taiwanese businesspeople in China to return to Taiwan for the Jan. 14 elections.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) urged the DPP to provide evidence to back up its accusations.
Citing media reports, DPP spokesperson Liang Wen-jie (梁文傑) said that Lai Xiaohua (賴曉華), wife of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), was investigated by the Chinese government for allegedly embezzling US$300 million, which was listed as “media purchasing in Taiwan.”
Aides of People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), who is expected to run in January’s presidential election, were also quoted by the media as saying that Chinese officials had “directly or indirectly expressed their concern about possible political donations to Soong” to Taiwanese business leaders, including Chang Yung-fa (張榮發), Winston Wang (王文洋), Lin I-shou (林義守), Douglas Hsu (徐旭東) and Bob Tsao (曹興誠), Liang said.
The pro-Beijing Chinese Friendship Cities Communication Association has invited many Taiwanese borough chiefs — in particular, those who supported the DPP — to visit China this year, Liang said.
Some China-based Taiwanese businesspeople who are supporting DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in the election also told the DPP they had received threatening telephone calls from Chinese provincial and city-level officials, Liang said.
“[The officials] hinted to those businesspeople that they could face problems with their tax and land lease contracts because of their political preference,” he said.
“We condemn China’s interference with Taiwan’s elections. The public’s desire for a change of government can not be stopped by such behavior,” he said.
While Beijing has refrained from using military threats, as it did before the 1996 election, it is still trying to influence Taiwan’s elections in many ways, DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said at a DPP caucus press conference.
Citing a report by the Chinese-language Business Weekly magazine, Tsai Huang-liang said China went so far as to allow Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) to brief senior Chinese officials on Ma’s “golden decade” platform at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 28.
The briefing was an indication of Beijing’s official position that it intends to help Ma win a second term, Tsai Huang-liang said.
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
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