Ma Chih-wei (馬治薇), a former spokeswoman for the Taiwan People’s Party’s (TPP) Taoyuan chapter, yesterday became the first candidate in Taiwan’s history to be investigated and detained for allegedly receiving cryptocurrency from China as election funding.
Ma, an independent, is also the first legislative candidate to be put under pretrial detention in this election cycle, with only seven days to go before the vote on Saturday next week.
Ma, who visited China several times last year, allegedly received tether cryptocurrency in addition to US dollars for her campaign.
Photo: Cheng Shu-ting, Taipei Times
She is also accused of passing information about intelligence officials and classified material pertaining to her legislative race in Taoyuan to Chinese contacts, Taoyuan Prosecutors’ Office official Kao Chien-yu (高健祐) said in a court filing yesterday.
Ma, 40, was seen as a rising star in the TPP when she became spokeswoman for the Taoyuan chapter. In April last year, she registered to represent the city’s first electoral district.
However, TPP members reported to party executives that Ma had close ties to the pro-Beijing China Unification Promotion Party founded by former Bamboo Union leader Chang An-lo (張安樂) and had made numerous trips to China.
The party did not nominate her, but she remained in the race as an independent.
After receiving tip-offs last year, Taoyuan prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau launched an investigation and searched four locations in Taoyuan on Thursday.
They questioned eight people, including Ma and TPP Taoyuan chapter head Huang Cheng-chun (黃成峻).
Prosecutors yesterday said that there is sufficient evidence that Ma contravened national security laws and the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法).
A judge approved a request to detain her due to the likelihood she would flee, collude with others or tamper with evidence.
The bureau’s national security section said that it is a serious case of Chinese Communist Party election interference through candidate funding.
Bureau officers and investigators are implementing measures to prevent and monitor foreign forces attempting to undermine the election process, it said.
Kao said travel records showed Ma traveled to China numerous times in April and May last year as she sought the TPP nomination in Taoyuan.
Evidence indicated that in separate meetings with her Chinese contacts she received a total of US$15,000 in cash, Kao said, adding that from October to last month she visited China again several times, allegedly to facilitate three separate transfers of tether valued at US$8,306, US$1,106 and US$9,910.
The bureau said using cryptocurrency is a new preferred method, as it is difficult to trace.
China is now using multiple channels, including US dollars, cryptocurrencies and unregulated cash transfers, to directly fund some legislative candidates in Taiwan, the bureau said.
Although running as an independent, TPP members including former party delegate Wu Yu-ching (吳予晴) said that Ma still has close ties to party leaders, citing her social media posts highlighting recent photographs taken with TPP Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), and former TPP legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡璧如).
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS