Chinese Unity Promotion Party (CUPP) founder Chang An-le (張安樂) and his son, Chang Wei (張瑋), were yesterday released without bail after being summoned for questioning earlier in the day about funding sources for the party.
The CUPP has allegedly received money over the years from China to organize pro-China rallies in Taiwan and engage in violent activities against students and pro-Taiwan independence groups.
Leaving the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office after questioning last night, Chang Wei said that although prosecutors have the right to investigate, “they are using the judicial process to torment us. It does not leave a good impression for society.”
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
Prosecutors on Wednesday had also summoned other CUPP executives — including Hu Ta-kang (胡大綱) and Wen Chih-cheng (溫吉成) — for questioning, after raiding the party’s head office in Taipei, Chang An-le’s residence in New Taipei City and other locations the day before.
They confiscated 14 boxes, including computers, data files and accounting records.
A crowd of more than 100 CUPP members and followers had gathered in front of the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office in the afternoon, holding placards and shouting: “Chang An-le is not guilty.”
Prosecutors said they have gathered evidence and received tipoffs about money coming from Chinese officials and state-run agencies which were passed on to the Chang family’s Taolue Group, which has offices in China.
The funds were allegedly used to finance CUPP and Bamboo Union gang activities in Taiwan, they said.
Chang An-le, also known as White Wolf, was a former top leader of the Bamboo Union.
One of the probe’s focus was on CUPP leaders leading a money relief campaign after the Feb. 8 earthquake in Hualien, where they allegedly distributed NT$10 million (US$326,520 at the current exchange rate), by handing out “red envelopes” containing NT$10,000 each to 1,000 residents who were affected by the magnitude 6.4 quake.
Government officials and politicians have long questioned the CUPP’s sources of funds to finance activities ranging from the earthquake relief effort to protests and rallies, a number of which ended in violence.
Prosecutors have said that the CUPP’s records show that it had only received annual political donations of between NT$1 million and NT$2 million over the past five years.
“This is a big joke, for the judiciary to focus on our earthquake relief effort. It implies that donating money to help earthquake victims constitutes a crime, but people who are engaged in corruption are not guilty,” Chang An-le said yesterday.
He told reporters that the Taiwanese independence movement would cause war to break out.
“These people are pushing for independence, but what they want is to sell out Taiwan,” he said.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a