The New Party yesterday decried what it said was the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) “barbaric arrest” of four of its members for alleged violations of the National Security Act (國家安全法).
Investigation Bureau officers at about 6:30am yesterday raided the homes of New Party spokesman Wang Ping-chung (王炳忠) and party members Hou Han-ting (侯漢廷), Lin Ming-cheng (林明正) and Chen Ssu-chun (陳斯俊) in Taipei and New Taipei City, seizing documents, computers and cellphones, and taking the four to the bureau for questioning on the grounds that they allegedly collected and provided intelligence to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“What intelligence could they possibly collect and provide? What have they done other than openly oppose [Taiwanese] independence and advocate unification” between Taiwan and China, New Party Deputy Chairman Lee Sheng-feng (李勝峰) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
Wang, Hou and Lin are household names for their anti-independence, pro-unification remarks in the media, and by targeting the three most well-known young members of the party, the DPP is attempting to silence the New Party, Lee said.
Wang’s lawyer, Chen Li-ling (陳麗玲), said the four were denied the right to seek legal assistance before their arrest, because they were initially slated to be summoned as witnesses at 8:30am yesterday.
“However, their residences were raided at 6am, which was a procedural violation,” she added.
By perpetrating a move that is reckless, barbaric and “messed up,” the DPP is forcing the public to rebel, and the New Party will respond by devoting itself to the local elections next year to overthrow the DPP to let it “feel people’s wrath and bring about justice,” he said.
The four were arrested in connection with an espionage case implicating alleged Chinese spy Zhou Hongxu (周泓旭), Lee said, but added that he did not know Zhou personally, nor did he know how close Zhou was with the four men.
“The DPP can ignore the need to drive economic growth and discourage diversity. However, it will never take away the pride of being Chinese from New Party Youth Corps members,” New Party Youth Corps head Yang Shih-kuang (楊世光) said, adding that his party would do everything in its power to clear his colleagues’ names through legal action.
New Party member Kolan Kaoti (戈蘭高地), who provided Chen Ssu-chun with accommodation, said she was terrified and compared the investigators to Gestapo because they made a mess of Chen Ssu-chun’s belongings.
“The move was like a reprise of the White Terror,” she said.
“The DPP will have bad karma for the many evil deeds it has done,” Hou’s mother said.
Separately, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesman Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said the raids and arrests were disproportionate, as authorities did not have enough evidence to prove that the four had committed an offense.
The move has raised public concern that the DPP is reinstating martial law, he said, urging investigators and prosecutors to promptly give an explanation to ease concerns.
Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂) said he knew the details of the case, but declined to elaborate, citing the confidentiality principle on cases under investigation.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods