Chinese Unity Promotion Party (CUPP) Chairman An-le (張安樂) announced that the party is breaking ties with the pro-unification Concentric Patriotism Association (CPA) and asked all CUPP members to stop interacting with the association.
“The CPA, with members from vastly different backgrounds and its esoteric vision, is problematic,” Chang — a former gangster known as the “White Wolf” — said on Facebook on Friday evening.
“Its behavior has been shortsighted, opportunist and counterproductive to the goal of achieving peaceful unification between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait,” he said. “Comrades of the party should immediately cease any interaction with the CPA. Those who contravene this rule will face disciplinary measures.”
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
The announcement came one day after news broke about the CPA reportedly paying people to wave Chinese flags and threatening independence supporters.
In a 25-minute documentary aired by Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV earlier this month, CPA executive director Zhang Xiuye (張秀葉) told an undercover reporter who infiltrated the association that it paid people between NT$800 and NT$900 per day to wave the national flag of the People’s Republic of China.
Zhang told the reporter that it is illegal to take money from China, but it is legal to accept money from China-based Taiwanese businesspeople, such as CPA head Zhou Qinjun (周慶峻), who she said would often receive “special care” from the Chinese government.
Furthermore, Zhou was shown telephoning a police officer and requesting a list of Taiwanese independence supporters in his precinct.
In the documentary, Zhou said that he wanted to send a warning to people who supported independence, vowing to “come after them.”
The Mainland Affairs Council on Thursday said it would closely monitor the CPA’s operations, while the CUPP has been under investigation for allegedly receiving funding from Beijing to carry out destabilizing activities to promote unification with China.
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