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.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique