Chinese intelligence authorities have files on almost all the personal data of Taiwan's residents, Legislator Trong Chai (
Chai, together with fellow DPP lawmakers Lin Chin-hsing (林進興) and Chiang Chao-yi (江昭儀) of the Alliance Against Selling Out Taiwan (反賣台聯盟), submitted an emergency inquiry to the Executive Yuan yesterday, telling the administration about the seriousness of the problem and calling for a quick resolution to the "crisis."
The alliance was formed to monitor interactions between the opposition pan-blue camp and China.
Personal data
Chai quoted unidentified China-based Taiwanese businesspeople and intelligence sources as saying recently that Chinese intelligence officials have files on the personal data of almost every resident in Taiwan.
Chinese intelligence authorities' computers contain data on Taiwan residents' household registration, military service records, vehicle registration and even national health insurance records, Chai said.
Chinese authorities also keep files on Taiwan's political parties, military hierarchy line-ups, and high technology research and development sector personnel, Chai said.
The data could be smuggled from Taiwan and sold to Chinese authorities by Taiwan officials or stolen by criminal rings who trade the information for certain purposes, Chai said.
Elections
Chai said that China's intelligence authorities have established a task force to focus on Taiwan's legislative elections next month, including gathering personal data on the candidates. The task force is even dedicated to trying to influence the elections by having Taiwanese businesspeople in China return to Taiwan and vote or drum up support for candidates that are more to Beijing's liking, he said.
He said this is a pressing issue that the Taiwanese people should be concerned with and that should be tackled.
Meanwhile, Lin and Chiang said they want the government to "clean up" all possible channels through which important personal data could be smuggled to China and to establish a special task force to find out whether certain government officials have been bribed by Beijing for intelligence information.
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
RSS