Public prosecutors yesterday indicted a Taiwanese and a Chinese national on charges of funneling money from Chinese sources to fund a Labor Party candidate running for New Taipei City councilor in 2022’s local elections.
New Taipei City prosecutors charged Sun Chih-chuan (孫志全), deputy chairman of the Taiwan-based Chinese Youth Development Union, and Dong Dachi (董笪琦), a Chinese executive at the Federation of Hong Kong Jiangsu Youth, with contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法).
Evidence indicated that Sun and Dong, using a complex route to hide the Chinese source of funding, transferred about NT$430,000 to fund the election campaign of Wang Cheng (王正), the pro-China unification Labor Party candidate, prosecutors said in a filing.
Photo: Wang Ting-chuan, Taipei Times
Sun and Dong are listed as suspects who allegedly made illegal election donations, promoted infiltration by foreign hostile forces (usually referred to as those based in China and Hong Kong), worked to subvert Taiwan’s national security and social stability, and undermined Taiwan’s sovereignty and democratic constitutional order, as stipulated in the Anti-Infiltration Act.
Prosecutors have also filed separate charges against Wang and his sister Wang Li (王立), accusing them of breaching the Political Donations Act by facilitating and accepting money from Chinese sources.
An investigation showed that Sun and Dong allegedly colluded to transfer 100,000 yuan (US$13,895 at the current exchange rate) in September 2022, with the money coming from Sun’s father-in-law, who owns a trading company. The money was listed on the company’s books as payment for procurement of chemical materials, but it went to Dong’s bank account in Hong Kong. Dong then wired the money to Wang Li to fund for her brother’s election campaign, investigators said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by