The Ciaotou Prosecutors’ Office in Kaohsiung yesterday released two suspects on bail who have been accused of recruiting Taiwanese to join tours to China funded by Beijing and in which they were urged to vote for pan-blue candidates in January’s presidential and legislative elections.
The pan-blue camp generally refers to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the People First Party, the New Party and the Young China Party, which support closer relations with China.
Prosecutors said that a man, surnamed Cheng (鄭), and a woman, surnamed Yeh (葉), who are members of the China Pan-Blue Association, recruited Taiwanese tourists to join tours arranged and funded entirely by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) from May to last month.
Photo: AP
An investigation found that the two had helped arrange five tours to China, with TAO representatives accompanying the visitors throughout the trip. The five destinations were: Shandong Province from May 7 to 14; Shanxi Province from June 24 to July 2; Inner Mongolia from Aug. 3 to 13; Xinjiang Province from Sept. 4 to 18; and Henan Province from Oct. 19 to 28, prosecutors said.
About 130 Taiwanese participated in the tours, including six current and former borough wardens, prosecutors said.
During the trips, visitors met with representatives from the TAO and China’s United Front Work Department, who urged them to vote for pan-blue candidates to remove the Democratic Progressive Party government from office, they said.
“TAO representatives used these meetings to ask the visitors about their political inclinations and express the wish that they would support cooperation between the pan-blue camp and the Taiwan People’s Party or a specific presidential candidate. Cheng also helped amplify their agenda on the sidelines,” prosecutors said.
The visitors were also told to support cross-strait peace and the so-called “1992 consensus,” and to oppose Taiwanese independence.
The “1992 consensus” — a term that former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The prosecutors’ office formed a six-member team and summoned Cheng, Yeh and 20 others for investigation.
Prosecutors said that Cheng and Yeh are suspected of contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) and the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法).
The two were released on bail of NT$150,000 and NT$50,000 respectively, and were restricted from leaving the country.
Aside from treating Taiwanese tourists to free tours to China, Taiwanese security officials have identified other ways that Beijing uses to interfere in Taiwan’s elections, such as deploying artificial intelligence to disseminate misinformation and inviting political commentators and heads of polling firms to attend forums in China.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious
RSS