The Ministry of the Interior should investigate whether political donations for some political parties are coming from China, as Beijing has demonstrated it has an extensive network of spies in the nation, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said on Monday during a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee.
China might be subsidizing political parties and organizations in Taiwan via political donations in a bid to undermine Taiwanese democracy, Chen said, calling on the ministry to launch an investigation into the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP; 中華統一促進黨) in particular.
Chen said the party’s financial statements for fiscal 2015 showed an income of NT$2.73 million (US$88,161), gained entirely from political donations, with the exception of NT$88 from interest.
The party apparently received no income from party membership fees in 2014 and 2015, Chen said, adding that he found that absurd.
China has demonstrated that it has established an espionage network in Taiwan that is seeking to undermine its national defense and democratic system, Chen said.
The Political Donations Act (政治獻金法) stipulates that political parties may not receive political donations from foreign entities, Chen said, adding that the ministry might be guilty of malfeasance.
Of the 287 parties registered with the ministry, 236 have failed to submit financial statements to the ministry as stipulated in the the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法) and the Political Donations Act, while only 10 of the 46 registered political organizations have fulfilled such requirements, Chen said.
The Civil Associations Act aims to allow for a high degree of autonomy for civic groups, stipulating only that their financial statuses should be made transparent if no statement is filed with the ministry, but there is no penalty for those that fail to comply, a ministry official said.
However, Chen disagreed, saying that Article 58 of the Civil Association Act states that violations can lead to an organization’s suspension of operations or disbandment.
He demanded that the ministry launch an investigation into the CUPP within three months, as well as the other parties that have failed to submit financial statements with the ministry.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Hua Ching-chun (花敬群) promised to look into the party.
As defined by Article 44 of the Civil Association’s Act, political organizations are “groups formed by Republic of China (ROC) citizens around nuclei of democratic government, to help form political ideologies, and aimed towards espousing national participation of politics.”
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