Premier William Lai (賴清德) and lawmakers yesterday said that the Nov 24 nine-in-one elections are being undermined and national security is under threat, because of China’s spread of disinformation, financial support of certain candidates and sponsoring of television and radio programs, as well as cyberattacks.
Presiding over a cross-ministerial meeting at the Executive Yuan, Lai said that the judiciary has launched investigations into candidates suspected of receiving large amounts of money from Chinese sources, which contravenes the nation’s election laws.
“We have evidence to show there have been massive injections of money from outside Taiwan to influence the election outcome, along with the dissemination of disinformation through mass media and social media,” Lai said.
Photo: Lee Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
“Evidence also points to outside funding being given to criminal syndicates masquerading as political parties, so that they can destabilize our society by creating disturbances, and using violence and intimidation,” he said.
“Investigators have also found that some candidates are distributing cash or gifts to residents to buy their votes,” the premier said, adding that other serious cases are under investigation, but officials cannot divulge the details.
Justice ministry officials at the meeting said that investigators are looking into more than 30 cases where candidates are suspected of receiving money from outside Taiwan, some coming from Hong Kong, Macau and other countries, but most likely originating in China.
“We are seeing massive amounts of cash from abroad being sent to certain candidates to subsidize their campaign expenses,” Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂) said. “The amount is much more than in past elections.”
Department of Prosecutorial Affairs head Wang Chun-li (王俊力) said that as of Monday there had been 2,361 reports of election irregularities and illegal conduct, with 4,737 persons under investigation, 1,780 cases of which involve allegations of vote-buying.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed by various lawmakers and National Security Bureau Director-General Peng Sheng-chu (彭勝竹) at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee yesterday that Beijing and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were behind a propaganda campaign to interfere with Taiwan’s democratic elections.
In response to a question by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應), Peng said that the Chinese government and certain PLA units are using their resources and cyber capabilities to create disinformation and fake news, targeting Taiwan’s media outlets, radio and television programs, and Web sites.
Tsai said that China has updated its “united front” tactics by employing new Internet, computer and mobile networking technologies to wage an an “information war” against Taiwan.
“It is in preparation for their stated goal of subverting Taiwan’s 2020 national elections, with Taiwan’s government and ruling party in the hands of candidates who are supported by Beijing to implement policies for Taiwan’s unification with China,” Tsai said.
DPP Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) said that China has set up its fifth military branch, a “cyberforce” that has 100,000 staff, of which 30,000 are deployed as part of “cyberarmy units” that are specifically focused on launching attacks against computer and mobile networks, as well as gathering intelligence and spreading of disinformation to destabilize other countries.
Tsai, Wang and other DPP lawmakers went on to condemn the National Security Council, the judiciary and Taiwan’s other intelligence agencies for their lax attitude and “see nothing, do nothing” approach in the face of China’s real threat to national security and the elections.
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
CHANGE OF TONE: G7 foreign ministers dropped past reassurances that there is no change in the position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including ‘one China’ policies G7 foreign ministers on Friday took a tough stance on China, stepping up their language on Taiwan and omitting some conciliatory references from past statements, including to “one China” policies. A statement by ministers meeting in Canada mirrored last month’s Japan-US statement in condemning “coercion” toward Taiwan. Compared with a G7 foreign ministers’ statement in November last year, the statement added members’ concerns over China’s nuclear buildup, although it omitted references to their concerns about Beijing’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. Also missing were references stressing the desire for “constructive and stable relations with China” and
Foreign ministers of leading Western democracies sought to show a united front in Canada yesterday after seven weeks of rising tensions between US allies and US President Donald Trump over his upending of foreign policy on Ukraine and imposing of tariffs. The G7 ministers from the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US, along with the EU, convened in the remote tourist town of La Malbaie, nestled in the Quebec hills, for two days of meetings that in the past have broadly been consensual on the issues they face. Top of the agenda for Washington’s partners would be getting a
RSS