Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) yesterday accused the opposition parties led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of colluding with pro-China elements to block US arms purchases and undermine the whole-of-society defense program by targeting the Kuma Academy.
Sheng, a co-founder of the Kuma Academy — a nonprofit civil defense organization dedicated to educating and training volunteers — made the remarks at a news conference, saying that he and the academy are being targeted by the KMT, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), and the Chinese Communist Party.
In the past few weeks, a cognitive warfare campaign has been underway, spreading disinformation that he is a US spy, receives funding from US sources through secret channels and owns three properties in the US, Shen said.
Photo: CNA
Taipei City Councilor Hou Han-ting (侯漢廷) of the New Party last week called for an investigation into Shen, saying that he had received financial support from the American Institute in Taiwan to organize a training program. Hou also accused Shen of saying: “If Chinese missiles start flying [toward Taiwan], it would help us quite a lot,” implying that Shen sought to profit from the missile threat.
Shen yesterday dismissed the allegations as baseless, calling them part of a Chinese disinformation campaign, adding that his comment about missiles had been taken out of context.
Shen said he was a professor in criminology, with a research focus on countering disinformation and Chinese propaganda warfare.
He co-founded the Kuma Academy in 2021, and in August 2022, following a visit to Taipei by then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi as Beijing conducted joint military exercises, including missile drills around Taiwan.
“These incidents made the public realize China’s hostile intent and animosity toward Taiwan, and helped people understand the importance of all-civilian defense,” Shen said.
“As a result, Kuma Academy gained attention, and more businesses donated money to support its programs. However, Hou distorted this by claiming that I was using Chinese missile threats to make a profit, which is simply ridiculous,” he added.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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