The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said the pan-blue camp is supported not only by Beijing, but also by Taiwanese fugitives in China, who have been assisting the pan-blues in mobilizing Taiwanese businesspeople in China to vote for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Lien Chan (連戰).
"Since last year, the pan-blue camp has carried out numerous campaign activities in China, all in violation of Chinese law. However, not only did the Chinese government fail to put a stop to these activities, instead it allowed and even supported their activities," said DPP campaign headquarters spokesman Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁).
For example, Wu said, the Chinese government, has completely ignored a Lien-Soong district campaign headquarters operating under the name of a Taiwanese trade service institute in Shanghai opertaing since Feb. 7.
Wu said that, according to some Taiwanese businesspeople in China, during the past six months the Lien-Soong camp has sent key figures, including KMT Legislator John Chang (章孝嚴), KMT Mainland Affairs department head Chang Rong-kung (張榮恭) and KMT policy committee senior member Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉), to launch those campaign events in China.
According to Wu, the Lien-Soong headquarters has held campaign activities, including a fundraising event on Jan. 8 which collected NT$27 million, a reception for businessmen on Jan. 11, sending letters inviting Taiwanese businessmen associations to attend a Lien-Soong campaign activity on Jan. 17, and the opening ceremony for the Lien-Soong Shanghai headquarters on Feb 7.
"All those events violated the Chinese government's regulations, which were published on April 20 last year, but the Chinese government issued no citations and even encouraged Taiwanese business-people to participate," Wu said.
"Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that there is a secret deal between the pan-blue camp and the regime in Beijing," Wu said.
He also said that the DPP is concerned about two aspects of this development. One is whether the secret deal had sacrificed Taiwanese national interestd, and the other is that the businesspeople involved in the event may be blackmailed into acting as China's agents provocateur.
"If China decides to reveal its two-faced countenance, Taiwanese businesspeople could be imprisoned at any moment," he said.
Meanwhile, the DPP legislative caucus also claimed that some leaders of the Lien-Soong campaign in China were actually Taiwanese white-collar criminals, among them several who are still fugitives from justice.
"Chang Yang (
"Yet Chang is a fugitive who has been sentenced for committing fraud, forgery and breaking banking laws in Taiwan," said Tsai.
Tsai displayed a recent photo taken in China showing Chang standing beside Liao Cheng-hao (廖正豪), a former minister of justice and now the deputy head of a Lien-Soong supporters' association.
"We asked the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the National Police Administration to verify Chang's identification. The result is that Chang has been identified as a fugitive criminal, who is still attempting to defraud Taiwanese businesspeople."
But in an interview with local media, Chang said that he had not received a summons, and therefore was not a fugitive. He did not say when he would return to Taiwan, and said that he was the real victim.
Tsai questioned why fugitive criminals including Chang Yang, former Tuntex Group chairman Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪), former Central Broadcasting System president Gloria Chu (朱婉清), and former Legislator Wu Tzer-yuan (伍澤元), are all KMT members and are now campaigning for the pan-blue ticket.
"The public wants to know whether Lien Chan has promised to pardon those fugitives in return for their campaign efforts," Tsai said.
"Why has Lien not asked those KMT members, who are now campaigning for him overseas, to return to Taiwan?"
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors