A Chinese business association is asking Taiwanese businesspeople in China to donate a specific sum to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to show their support for Beijing’s election stance, a national security source said yesterday.
A Taiwanese businessman in China, who is also an executive in the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, posted in an internal chat group the KMT’s political donation account number and asked other Taiwanese businesspeople in China to give at least NT$10,200 (US$332) to the party, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The post asked donors to provide their names, phone numbers and identification card numbers to receive receipts for their donations, the source said.
Photo: Reuters
The extra NT$200 is to make the donation easily identifiable as coming from a Taiwanese businessperson in China, they said.
The request put Taiwanese businesspeople in a difficult position, as they would fear retaliation if they did not donate, they said.
The Political Donations Act (政治獻金法) stipulates that an individual can donate up to NT$300,000 to a political party per year, while a profit-seeking business can give up to NT$3 million.
It is no secret that Beijing wants China-based Taiwanese businesspeople to return to vote for the KMT in the presidential and legislative elections on Saturday next week, but as some people have been sentenced in Taiwan for using Beijing’s money to host banquets for KMT candidates and to fund airfare for potential KMT voters, businesspeople want to keep a low profile, the source said.
As political donations are public information, requesting that businesspeople give easily identifiable sums could be seen as a threat, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Liu Shiyh-fang (劉世芳) said.
It is Beijing’s way of saying that “if you want to do business in China, you have to donate to the KMT and vote for the KMT,” she said.
In other election interference news, former National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥) warned against deepfake videos made by China in the finals days leading up to the elections.
Deepfake videos can be easily created with open-source software such as Faceswap and DeepFaceLab, even by people who are not skilled computer users, Liao said.
Other open-source software such as Lyrebird, CereProc and CandyVoice enable users to merge audio recordings to generate unique clips of a person saying whatever they want, he said.
Combined with artificial intelligence technologies and machine learning techniques, the authenticity of the videos and audio clips created would be difficult to establish, he added.
For example, deepfake videos showing a presidential candidate taking bribes would arouse doubt in voters’ minds even if it is quickly announced that it was fake, Liao said.
As China is waiting for any opportunity to intervene in Taiwan’s elections, unpredictable risks are emerging every day, he said.
The threats must not be taken lightly, as they concern the foundation of Taiwan’s democracy, he added.
The KMT said the DPP should provide evidence to back the claims, and not resort to “painting the KMT with a red brush.”
Additional reporting by Lin Hsin-han
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