Taichung City Councilor Chiang Chao-kuo (江肇國) is calling on the city government to investigate 23 Taiwanese Web sites found to be sharing “fake news” from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO).
The Web sites — 18 of which are registered in Taichung — are spreading false reports about President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration, Chiang said, adding that the reports had been traced back to the “China Taiwan Network,” an affiliate of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
The city government should determine the funding source for the Web sites, he said.
The Taichung City Government said that while a company is subject to audits and is required to provide financial statements prepared by a certified accountant, details about a company’s operations and financial transactions are internal matters.
Of the 23 Web sites that he investigated, one was registered to an address in New Taipei City, one in Yilan County and two had no registration information, Chiang said, adding that the remaining 18 were registered in Taichung.
Taichung police said they would investigate whether the Web sites were spreading false reports.
The large number of sites in Taichung raised concern that the city has become infiltrated by Chinese content farmers, Chiang said, adding that it was a matter of national security.
The police should fully investigate the issue with the National Communications Commission and national security officials, he said.
The Taichung Economic Development Bureau should know about the operations and funding of the companies running the Web sites, he said.
In April, the Taichung City Government publicly expressed support for China and Taiwan belonging to “one China” and offered space in the city government building for activities held by Chinese organizations, Taichung City Councilor Chiu Su-chen (邱素貞) said.
Local pro-democracy groups protested the city’s openness toward China, calling for the “protection of Taiwan and opposition toward China,” she added.
Meanwhile, national security officials have begun to investigate the management behind several of the Web sites identified by Chiang, including Life News (民生新聞網), Finger Media (指傳媒) and Beneficence News (慈善新聞報), a source close to the matter said yesterday.
Officials were aware of “foreign forces” behind the false reports disseminated by the sites and were investigating the motivations of those involved, the source said.
The Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office had already determined the Web sites to be part of organized efforts to attack and undermine the central government, the source said, adding that they believed Taiwan urgently needs a legislative amendment prohibiting Taiwanese from acting as agents of the Chinese Communist Party.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
RSS