The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday urged the public not to comply with Beijing’s “bounty notices” or provide information via a newly created Facebook page run by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), warning that doing so could contravene the National Security Act (國家安全法).
“If anyone complies with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) so-called ‘bounty notices’ by providing information or filing reports, the conduct could fall under the National Security Act, the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法) and the Criminal Code,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a regular news briefing in Taipei.
Such conduct could prompt legal action by Taiwanese authorities and result in imprisonment of seven years or more, he said, urging the public not to cooperate with the Chinese side for “a bit of personal gain.”
Photo: CNA
Liang made the remarks when asked about a Facebook page newly set up by TAO and said that such cooperation could be facilitated by Facebook’s private-messaging function.
Launched on Tuesday under the name “Spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council,” the TAO Facebook page had about 18,000 followers as of 7pm on Wednesday, with eight posts in total.
Except for the launch post, the remaining seven were video clips of TAO spokesperson Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) answering reporters’ questions at Wednesday’s news briefing, each with traditional Chinese subtitles.
Describing it as a “relaunch,” Liang said TAO launched a Facebook page in 2016, “but because few people followed it, it was shut down in 2020.”
“Frankly, we’re a bit envious of the TAO,” Liang said, adding that the office can set up a Facebook page for people in Taiwan to see, whereas MAC “clearly” cannot open a page on the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo, as it would “likely be blocked immediately.”
“This reflects the differences between the two sides’ systems and their approaches to controlling speech,” he added.
Across those eight posts, many users left comments expressing concern about Yu Menglong (于朦朧), a Chinese entertainer who died last month.
Many questioned the circumstances of his death, with some calling it suspicious, and repeatedly asked whether a case had been filed and for updates on the investigation.
Others also left comments questioning whether the office was “climbing the firewall” — a reference to circumventing China’s Great Firewall, which blocks Internet users in China from platforms such as Facebook and Google — sarcastically asking: “Are you here to experience free speech?”
Asked about the reactions in the comments, Liang said it is natural for Taiwanese netizens to express their views.
“I do not think that would be possible under conditions in mainland China,” he added.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
EVA Airways president Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明) and other senior executives yesterday bowed in apology over the death of a flight attendant, saying the company has begun improving its health-reporting, review and work coordination mechanisms. “We promise to handle this matter with the utmost responsibility to ensure safer and healthier working conditions for all EVA Air employees,” Sun said. The flight attendant, a woman surnamed Sun (孫), died on Friday last week of undisclosed causes shortly after returning from a work assignment in Milan, Italy, the airline said. Chinese-language media reported that the woman fell ill working on a Taipei-to-Milan flight on Sept. 22
1.4nm WAFERS: While TSMC is gearing up to expand its overseas production, it would also continue to invest in Taiwan, company chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has applied for permission to construct a new plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區), which it would use for the production of new high-speed wafers, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council, which supervises three major science parks in Taiwan, confirmed that the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau had received an application on Friday from TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, to commence work on the new A14 fab. A14 technology, a 1.4 nanometer (nm) process, is designed to drive artificial intelligence transformation by enabling faster computing and greater power
RSS