Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, and his campaign team yesterday questioned self-confessed former Chinese spy William Wang Liqiang’s (王立強) allegations about Chinese infiltration and urged President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration to release reliable information regarding the case.
Australian media on Saturday reported Wang’s account of how he was recruited by the Chinese Communist Party to spy on Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The media reports quoted Wang as saying that China had paid news networks CtiTV (中天), China Television (CTV, 中視) and Eastern Broadcasting Co (EBC, 東森電視) to broadcast news designed to negatively affect the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ahead of the Jan. 11 elections.
Photo: CNA
Commenting on an investigation by the National Communications Commission’s (NCC) into the news channels, Han wrote on Facebook: “Does the NCC work for the public or work for the DPP?”
“Are you the NCC, or the zangxixi (髒兮兮),” he wrote, using Chinese characters meaning “unclean” that sound like “NCC.”
Two hashtags he added to the post read “Clearly explain what information you have” and “green terror,” an apparent play on “White Terror.”
Describing the case as an incident of “a mistaken spy,” Han campaign office deputy executive Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) wrote on Facebook: “Please tell me exactly what you have,” referring to the Presidential Office on Saturday saying that it has information on the situation.
Is Wang a fugitive attempting to escape fraud charges, or is he collaborating with multiple state governments to “intervene in Taiwan’s elections?” Sun asked.
The NCC later said that it had spoken with management personnel at EBC, CtiTV and CTV.
They have denied the allegations, it said.
The commission said it has launched an administrative investigation into the three media firms.
Earlier yesterday, the KMT at a news conference urged the Tsai administration to thoroughly investigate Wang’s allegations and offer a clear explanation to the public.
“Based on my professional judgement, I can say with certainty that this [Wang’s allegations] are falsified in an attempt to seek political asylum,” said former Military Intelligence Bureau deputy chief Wong Yen-ching (翁衍慶), who has worked in intelligence for 35 years.
Wang’s claim that he worked in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and that he reported to two supervisors at the same time contradict basic principles of espionage, Wong said.
Spies are assigned tasks in one location at a time and will not report to multiple supervisors simultaneously, he said.
Moreover, Wang referred to China’s intelligence bureau by a former name, appearing to have no knowledge that it has been renamed, he said.
If Wang had valuable information to provide, the Australian government would protect the information by attempting to prevent him from giving interviews, Wong said.
As Canberra apparently does not trust him, Wang must have spoken to the media in an attempt to avoid being deported back to China, he said.
Separately, People First Party (PFP) Chairman and presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) said that the Tsai administration has a responsibility to explain whether Chinese spies have infiltrated the nation and are attempting to influence the elections.
“She is responsible for national security issues. Surely, our national security officials should know if such a person entered the nation,” Soong said. “Surely the Financial Supervisory Commission should investigate whether there are indeed Chinese funds being used to interfere in our elections and National Immigration Agency records should document when they arrived.”
“The ruling party and its legislative caucus should not pull the trigger because they saw a shadow,” he said.
Referring to a DPP caucus anti-infiltration bill that it unveiled yesterday, he said: “They should show that they form a responsible government and leave people to make up their minds on the kind of government they want.”
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires