The Ministry of the Interior on Tuesday said that the Chinese Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) systematically colluded with China in a campaign to develop espionage groups and meddle in elections.
The ministry’s comments came as CUPP founder Chang An-lo (張安樂) told CUPP supporters at a protest in Taipei that the government targeted his party for making plans to turn temples into “neutral zones” in a war with China.
Last month, Chang told a political commentary show on Formosa Television that he secured agreements with Tainan’s Nankunshen Daitianfu Temple (南鯤鯓代天府) and Luermen Tianho Temple (鹿耳門天后宮) to open their doors as safe refuges for civilians should the Chinese People’s Liberation Army invade Taiwan.
Photo: Taipei Times
In response, the ministry said its filing for the CUPP’s dissolution was made on Jan. 2, long predating Chang’s interview.
The request for the Constitutional Court to dissolve the CUPP for attempting to undermine the democratic constitutional order resulted from years of persistent and systematic attempts by the party to develop illegal organizations and meddle in elections on Beijing’s behalf, it said.
Multiple CUPP members are engaged in ongoing breaches of the National Security Act (國家安全法), the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例), posing a direct threat to national security, the ministry said.
The Ministry of the Interior is the agency in charge of regulating the nation’s political organizations with a mandate to initiate the dissolution of political parties that jeopardize the public interest or the nation’s security, it said.
As Chang is a ranking member of the CUPP, the party has an obligation to explain if his remarks on television represented its official stance and disclose any compact Chang might have made with China, it said.
When questioned by officials, representatives of the temples Chang named in the television segment denied having a stance in the nation’s political or military affairs, the ministry said.
Chang’s latest comments were an effort to deflect blame by sowing confusion and misleading the public, it said.
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