Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), whom China has listed as “wanted” for promoting Taiwanese independence, on Wednesday addressed a hearing of a German parliamentary committee, speaking about his efforts to combat disinformation.
Shen was one of six experts invited to speak at a hearing of the Bundestag’s Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid on the topic “Disinformation by Autocratic States Aiming to Undermine Democracy and Threaten Human Rights,” information posted online by the lower house of the German federal parliament showed.
After the hearing, Shen told reporters that he was invited to address the committee in his role as a lawmaker and an expert on combating disinformation.
Photo: Screen grab from the online stream of a Bundestag hearing
He told the hearing about how China’s disinformation campaign has affected Taiwan and Europe, and how Russia and Hungary have been spreading disinformation across Europe.
Shen said that he was pleased to see that Europe has been raising awareness about the spread of disinformation and cognitive warfare, and expressed frustration that some people in Taiwan do not share the same concerns.
Shen is a former associate professor at National Taipei University and obtained a doctorate in law from the University of California, Irvine, specializing in white-collar and financial crime, as well as disinformation campaigns.
He has been listed as “wanted” by China and is being investigated by the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau on allegations of “secession-related criminal activities” in Taiwan, including the launch of a civil defense organization called the Kuma Academy, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported last month.
The investigation is being carried out under the terms of China’s criminal law and its judicial guidelines, introduced last year, on how to penalize “Taiwan independence separatists,” Xinhua reported.
On Sunday, a legal expert on state-run China Central Television (CCTV) said that Shen should be pursued through Interpol and other international mutual judicial assistance bodies.
The statement on CCTV raised public concern in Taiwan about whether Shen could be arrested and extradited to China if he traveled outside Taiwan.
On Tuesday, Shen said in a video clip on Facebook that he was not afraid of China’s threat “to hunt him down worldwide.”
“For a very long time, China has been deploying coercive actions to try to silence Taiwanese, but I am here in front of the Bundestag and will soon be speaking at a hearing as a Taiwanese lawmaker,” he said in the video recorded in front of the building in Berlin.
“As a brave Taiwanese, I will never draw back in fear,” he said. “I am here today to safeguard not only Taiwan’s democracy, but also global democracy and freedom.”
Separately, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday said that it was safe for Shen to visit Germany, as all Taiwanese lawmakers are protected by the ministry and its overseas offices during overseas trips.
Taiwan and Germany are both democratic countries guided by the rule of law, Lin said in a radio interview.
It is not as easy as Beijing claims to extradite someone from a foreign country to China, as such a move would require judicial cooperation and an extradition treaty with the host country, he said.
Furthermore, the host country would have to examine the extradition request to ensure that it is in line with its country’s legal requirements, Lin said.
The government thinks that China’s threat against Shen was meant to project an illusion of “long-arm jurisdiction” over Taiwan, in a bid to sow division and fear among Taiwanese, he added.
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