The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) is tracking the movement of money from foreign sources to prevent Chinese funds from being used to interfere in the presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 13, sources said yesterday.
The bureau’s Anti-Money Laundering Division is monitoring channels through which foreign money flows into Taiwan, such as underground remittance services, sources familiar with the matter said.
The effort is targeting offshore funding used to increase the click-through rate of online influencers, and support specific candidates and temple charity events, the sources said.
Photo: Reuters
Some online opinion leaders who have gained notoriety by commenting on political issues publish content that attacks Taiwan, or is pro-Beijing, unverified or controversial to gain assistance and donations from Chinese supporters, they said, adding that the actions support China’s “cognitive warfare” tactics.
The bureau is closely monitoring controversial online personalities or the marketing companies behind them to determine if they receive money from suspicious sources, they said.
When suspicious funding is detected, the agencies trace the money and provide cash transaction reports and suspicious transaction reports to help prosecutors investigate such cases, they said.
Chinese election-interference strategies also include buying advertisements through third parties in Taiwan, such as supporters’ associations and foundations, or using temple charity events as a pretense for vote-buying, they said.
Funding for such efforts might be transferred through underground remittance or money laundering schemes using cryptocurrencies, the sources said.
The bureau is working with local prosecutors to share information regarding such cases, they said.
Lo Cheng-chung (羅承宗), a professor and director of Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology’s Institute of Financial and Economic Law, yesterday said that authorities should target “upstream” funding sources to prevent foreign actors from spreading disinformation through online influencers.
Regulations that have been put in place to prevent foreign actors from interfering in the nation’s radio, television and publishing industries cannot effectively regulate behavior on social media, Lo said.
A large amount of false information is spread online, preventing the public from receiving accurate and complete information, which poses a serious threat to democracy, he said.
France has passed legislation to fight online misinformation, while Germany has passed the Network Enforcement Act to combat false news online and the EU passed the Digital Services Act to protect the rights of digital users, which demonstrates the necessity for legislation to prevent disinformation, he said.
The Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Act (證券投資信託及顧問法) has been amended to regulate online influencers creating content related to investments and holding online platforms accountable for fraud that harms investors, Lo said.
To combat disinformation, Taiwan should follow the example of the EU to require platform operators to be transparent and disclose where their funding comes from, which would reveal which influencers are “paid to talk,” he said.
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
RSS