Former ministry of national defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) yesterday called for greater caution against Beijing’s infiltration, saying that high-level Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials had tried to establish contact with him months after he left office in May 2008.
“China’s infiltration programs target not only the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] and the media, but also people in the pan-blue camp and even those in the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] and the pan-green camp,” Tsai told a news conference in Taipei.
A Taiwanese entrepreneur doing business in China had relayed a message to him from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), he said.
Photo: CNA
“The TAO wanted to invite me to attend an international conference in China and they said I would be received by the leader of the CCP,” he said.
“I thought that was very strange because I had stepped down less than eight months ago. So I firmly refused,” Tsai said.
While self-confessed Chinese spy William Wang Liqiang’s (王立強) stories about China’s intelligence operations in Taiwan have brought more attention to the subject, the discussions have only touched the tip of the iceberg, he said.
The National Security Council in September said that China had been using all possible means to influence the Jan. 11 elections and proposed five countermeasures, so “I hope President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national security team would fully implement those measures,” Tsai added.
The DPP caucus’ version of an anti-infiltration bill, which stipulates a prison term of up to seven years or a fine of NT$5 million (US$163,866) for those who act on behalf of “foreign forces” to disrupt social order, and bans political donations and other political activities under the instructions of such forces, advanced to a second reading on Friday.
The KMT had previously obstructed the bill, but is now proposing an alternative, which would prevent the “annexation of the Republic of China.”
The KMT boycotted the legislative meeting on Monday last week to “prevent the DPP from posting the voting results online and portraying the KMT as siding with Beijing on Chinese interference,” KMT Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏) said on Friday.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Association of University Professors president Lai Cheng-chang (賴振昌) said “the biggest national security problem” is that the government has to deal with groups of Taiwanese who support the CCP from within the nation.
For example, when Wang’s allegations were first reported, many in the pan-blue camp took the same stance on his claims as the CCP’s, Lai said.
The Reverend Omi Wilang, a Presbyterian minister, said the CCP has been trying to win the hearts of Taiwanese religious groups even as it cracks down on religious freedom in China.
“We strongly condemn the way in which the CCP has been tearing down churches and temples in China while inviting Taiwanese religious groups to China and offering them special treatments,” he said. “The two-faced approach is also part of its tactic to promote unification.
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
RSS