The Ministry of Justice has become aware of “external forces” paying Internet streamers to make false statements in an attempt to influence November’s nine-in-one elections, Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) said yesterday.
Tsai made the remarks in an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), the contents of which were aired yesterday.
The ministry is continuing to monitor such behavior and would strive to combat cognitive warfare tactics, he said.
Photo: screen grab from Guan Wo Shenme Shi
Attempts to influence Taiwanese politics by giving Internet personalities and streamers money and having them spread false information is a new tactic, Tsai said.
“External forces have been known to use a variety of methods to influence Taiwanese politics,” such as subsidizing a particular group or candidate through Taiwanese businesspeople, or exerting influence over local temples to have them persuade local residents to vote for certain candidates, he said.
Other methods have involved Chinese spouses in Taiwan and underground banking institutions offering voters all-expenses-paid trips to China, he added.
Tsai said that he places great emphasis on national security and because of this, he has arranged for prosecutors to attend seminars by national security experts so that they can prosecute cases involving national security issues based on what is best for protecting Taiwan.
The ministry has also drafted an amendment to the National Security Act (國家安全法) that would send criminal cases involving people or organizations nominally controlled by a foreign power, China, Hong Kong or Macau straight to the second appellate court, Tsai said.
The amendment would also make corporate espionage a criminal act, as well as leaking the nation’s core technological secrets to foreign assets, he said.
The technology sector is an important asset for Taiwan and crucial to its national security, he added.
While local elections have always been the most prone to corruption, modern technology can spread false information swiftly, an issue the ministry must seek to control, Tsai said.
“We aren’t ruling out the possibility of external forces utilizing modern technology, such as e-wallets and blockchain technology, to facilitate such payments,” he said, adding that the ministry would also be monitoring the spread of false information and nip it in the bud.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
RSS