Beijing has sponsored cut-price trips to China for hundreds of Taiwanese politicians ahead of key elections, according to Taiwan sources and documents, unnerving officials with a broad campaign that one called “election interference.”
Taiwanese law forbids election campaigns from receiving money from “external hostile forces,” and prosecutors in southern Taiwan this week said they were investigating 22 people, including grassroots politicians, for potential violations of election and security laws.
Across Taiwan, security agencies are looking into more than 400 visits to China in the past month, most led by local opinion leaders such as borough wardens and village wardens, a Taiwan security official looking into China’s activities told Reuters.
The agencies believe the trips, with discounted accommodation, transportation and meals, were subsidized by units under China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
Asked for comment, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council referred Reuters to comments this week by minister, Chiu Tai-san (邱太三). Chiu said it was “self-evident” Beijing was trying to sway Taiwan’s elections, including through means of free trips for politicians.
“They have already made it clear that a so-called ‘right choice’ has to be made, meaning choosing candidates that the Chinese Communist Party prefers,” he told reporters without elaborating.
“Election interference has started under the name of group tours,” said a second Taiwan security official, who was briefed on the matter, adding that Beijing was targeting politicians crucial to Taiwanese administrative systems who play key roles in shaping public opinion.
More than 300 borough wardens or village wardens from central Taiwan alone have participated in such trips to China in the past few months, this person said.
More than 20 borough wardens from a district in Taipei joined a China-sponsored trip to Shanghai with their families in September, while more than 10 people from an association for local politicians in neighboring New Taipei City joined a trip this week, according to two security reports reviewed by Reuters.
The number from the Taipei district has “increased significantly” compared with elections four years ago and registrations have been “fairly enthusiastic”, one report said. “Certain borough wardens have become the window of contacts in Taiwan for some Chinese units.”
So far this year, more than 1,000 borough wardens or village wardens joined such trips, more than last time, the second official said, adding that China was targeting electoral districts where support was strong for candidates campaigning for closer China ties.
“There is no such thing as a free lunch,” Prosecutor-General Hsing Tai-chao (邢泰釗) said on Thursday.
He said external forces were trying to influence citizens in an “unprecedented fashion” and urged Taiwanese not to accept perks or instructions from Chinese authorities when travelling there.
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