The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday dropped charges against Chinese Unity Promotion Party (CUPP) Chairman Chang An-le (張安樂) and another CUPP member in connection with a Taipei rally on Oct. 1 last year, but indicted another CUPP executive on suspicion of buying votes.
The decision to stop the prosecution of Chang, a former Bamboo Union boss known by his gang nickname of “White Wolf,” quickly drew criticism.
Chang and Hu Ta-kang (胡大剛) were charged in connection with an event in front of the Taipei Railway Station to celebrate China’s National Day.
Photo: Chiu Yi-chin, Taipei Times
Chang has said that the event was not political, but was to perform traditional Chinese cultural rites and was not related to China’s National Day.
The event attracted a large police presence, and Chang and several hundred CUPP members ignored police calls to disperse.
Several people filed judicial complaints alleging that Chang and other CUPP members were pledging allegiance to China, contrary to obligations of Republic of China (ROC) citizens, and possibly contraventing of national security laws.
Taipei prosecutors indicted Chang and Hu for breaches of the National Security Act (國家安全法) and Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), as the event had not been approved by the Taipei City Government and the CUPP members ignored police orders to disperse.
However, prosecutors yesterday said that they dropped the charges due to a lack of evidence of criminal offenses.
The decision to drop the charges against Chang An-le drew criticism on the Internet, with critics saying there was clear evidence of him leading CUPP members in celebrating China’s National Day.
However, the office indicted former CUPP legislator-at-large nominee Ho Jianghua (何建華) on vote-buying charges in connection to activities in December last year.
Ho is also chairwoman of the Taipei-based Chinese Women’s Federation, a pro-China organization whose members are mostly Chinese women married to Taiwanese and settled in Taiwan.
She was born in Hunan Province and obtained permission to live and work in Taiwan, and eventual ROC citizenship, after marrying a Taiwanese man in 1996.
Prosecutors allege Ho contravened election laws by organizing a five-day trip from Kinmen Island (金門) to Xiamen, China, through the “small three links,” with 16 people paying NT$7,800 per person for the trip.
Investigators allege the tour was subsidized by the Chinese government, as the NT$7,800 only covered the transportation, insurance and administration fees, not accommodation, meals or other expenses.
Participants allegedly told investigators that Ho had told them to vote for the CUPP in the Jan. 11 legislative elections.
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