Independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) yesterday urged the government to crack down on the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP), citing possible serious breaches of the law, including colluding with an enemy state.
Lim told Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) at the legislature that CUPP founder Chang An-le (張安樂) had stated publicly that the party would form a “red” propaganda team to promote unification with China, including the possibility of “armed insurrection.”
“Our government must prohibit such brazen flouting of the law by those acting as collaborators with China,” Lim said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Chang said in a Chinese radio interview that the CUPP had recruited young Taiwanese, turning them from “green” to “red,” and that it was planning an armed insurrection within Taiwan when China launches an invasion of Taiwan, Lim said.
China’s propaganda warfare comes in many forms and in Taiwan it has the CUPP networking with criminal gangs, recruiting Taiwanese and creating havoc in society, he said.
Chang can speak freely, because he has the right to freedom of expression, “but he is promoting Chinese propaganda and calling for an armed insurrection, which is breaking the law,” Lim said.
Chang has breached Article 103 of the Criminal Code for colluding with a foreign state to start a war against the Republic of China (ROC); Article 104 on colluding with a foreign state to subject the ROC to the rule of such a state; and Article 105 on citizens joining the armed forces of an enemy state to fight against the ROC, Lim said, adding that the Criminal Code states that “offenders shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment.”
Lim also cited breaches of Article 106 on people aiding the enemy or undermining the ROC military during a war; and Article 107 on persons recruiting for an enemy, inducing troops to surrender to the enemy, desert or mutiny, disclosing military secrets to an enemy state and conducting espionage to aid an enemy state.
In response, Su said that Taiwan is a free, democratic nation, but some people abuse these freedoms.
“We have rule of law here and those who break the law will be punished accordingly,” Su said. “This kind of talk is just irritating to most people, but we will request that the judiciary investigate these alleged breaches of the law.”
Additional reporting by Jason Pan
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