Authorities have detained a man on suspicion of “fabricating” opinion polls with the intention of influencing the Jan. 13 presidential election, prosecutors said yesterday.
The Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office said it questioned four people on Friday for allegedly spreading fabricated presidential poll results through news media and social media.
Prosecutors said they detained former For Public Good Party deputy chairman Hsu Shao-tung (徐少東) on suspicion of contravening the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法) and the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) based on evidence from bank transactions.
Photo: Wu Cheng-feng, Taipei Times
Hsu’s son was released without needing to post bail. Hsu’s alleged co-conspirators, the head of the Kaohsiung Pastel Painting Association, surnamed Wang (王), and the director-general of the Railway Matsu Charity Association, surnamed Lee (李), paid bail of NT$200,000 and NT$100,000 respectively.
Their Chinese contact allegedly wired funds into accounts under Hsu’s and Wang’s names, prosecutors said, adding that Wang was the primary contact.
Investigators found that, under the Chinese agent’s orders, Hsu falsified research results and polls on presidential candidates and forwarded the false information to contacts on Line, they said.
Wang also took out advertisements in the Chinese-language Economic Daily News and the United Daily News, as well as on news Web sites, including Match Portal, Pchome News, Owl News and Life News, to help promote certain candidates, prosecutors said.
The candidates and parties that the fabricated opinion polls favored were not identified.
Prosecutors said that Hsu was also a chief consultant of a “new residents” association, a community organization for newcomers to Taiwan.
The association was accused by prosecutors earlier this month of arranging free trips to China for dozens of people in a bid to “influence” the elections.
“They aimed to use Taiwan’s large new resident population to develop organizations that could be controlled by these hostile foreign powers ... to influence the election, thereby endangering national security,” prosecutors said.
Hsu’s detention was the second case this week involving someone being held incommunicado on suspicion of faking presidential election polls.
On Friday, a court ordered that a reporter be detained in Taichung on suspicion of publishing online eight fake public opinion polls on the presidential election at the instruction of Chinese officials.
The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office said that reporter Lin Hsien-yuan (林獻元), who works for Finger Media, in October asked a self-proclaimed polling expert, Su Yuan-hwa (蘇雲華), to produce a series of false poll results at the behest of the Chinese Communist Party’s Fujian Provincial Committee showing that the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential ticket was favored by Taiwanese.
The results, which were shared on other online media platforms, misled the public and were part of China’s attempt to interfere in Taiwan’s presidential election, prosecutors said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
SECURITY: Taipei presses the US for arms supplies, saying the arms sales are not only a reflection of the US security commitment to Taiwan but also serve as a mutual deterrent against regional threats Taiwan is committed to preserving the cross-strait “status quo” and contributing to regional peace and stability, the Presidential Office said yesterday. “It is an undeniable fact that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent democratic nation,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) reiterated, adding that Beijing has no right to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. The statements came after US President Donald Trump warned against Taiwanese independence. Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had pressed him not to support Taiwan. Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying
RSS