Taiwan should regulate contacts between online influencers and Chinese officials to prevent harm to national interests, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said yesterday.
The government has the authority to ban Taiwanese from forming quid pro quo relationships with Chinese officials engaged in work that could jeopardize Taiwan’s national security, Shen said.
Taiwanese are not allowed to cooperate with Chinese officials in any matter affecting the nation’s security or political affairs, he said, citing the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
Photo: REUTERS
However, the act does not authorize the government to impose penalties on private individuals, which leads to a loophole that China can exploit, he said, calling for legal amendments.
Legislative efforts should focus on punishment, not preventive measures, as the latter run the risk of infringing on people’s freedom of speech, movement and association, he said.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) should not be the sole agency tasked with enforcing the act, as it lacks the administrative capacity to review applications from ordinary Taiwanese to interact with China, he said.
Lawmakers must help bolster the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), which already prohibits influencers from colluding with China in its efforts to meddle in Taiwan’s elections, by making the legal language more specific, he said.
Beijing has been conducting a campaign to systematically buy online media outlets via the state-run Fujian Broadcast and Television Network, DPP Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said.
The network owns Taiwan Reports and a cluster of platforms it controls, including Eagle Eye Daily and We Truth News, she said.
China constantly upgrades its political infiltration weapons, she said, citing its use of convergence media outlets in 2020, Douyin and Xiaohongshu in 2021, Internet-based election interference in 2023 and travel-based influencers last year.
The National Security Bureau and the MAC should increase multi-agency cooperation, patch legal loopholes and establish stronger financial regulations to counter China’s influence campaign, she said.
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