At least 15 members of the Chinese Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) or people closely affiliated with it have registered to run in the November nine-in-one local elections, a national security source said today.
The candidates are seeking posts as village and borough chiefs, township and city representatives, and county and city councilors, the source said.
They are running across several regions as independents or under other party affiliations, while only two are running under the CUPP banner, the source added.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Lu A-tien (呂阿添) and Huang Chin-liang (黃金良) are running under the CUPP flag for borough warden positions in New Taipei City's Yingge District (鶯歌) and Hsinchu County's Hukou Township (湖口) respectively, the source said.
The limited use of the party label could be related to the CUPP’s openly stated advocacy of unification by force and the government’s efforts to seek its dissolution, the source said.
The Ministry of the Interior last month petitioned the Constitutional Court to dissolve the party, citing the party’s threat to national security, social stability and electoral integrity.
Security agencies are closely monitoring the candidates due to concerns over potential interference by foreign forces and the influence of local criminal networks, the source said.
A review by security agencies found that several candidates linked to the CUPP had previously been involved in criminal cases, including fraud, public-order offenses, intimidation, vote-buying, contraventions of election laws, unlawful detention, assault and embezzlement, the source said.
Citing Tainan as an example, Wang Wen-tsung (王文宗), former head of a CUPP chapter and chairman of a local temple, was convicted of harboring gang leader Hung Cheng-chun (洪政軍), the source said.
After he was released this year, his daughter Wang Shih-yuan (王詩媛) registered to run for Tainan city councilor, prompting security agencies to scrutinize the connections between these figures, the CUPP and local political factions, the source said.
In addition, Liao Yujing (廖昱婧), a Chinese spouse originally from Hunan Province who previously ran for legislator in Chiayi County, has entered the county council race this year and is also being monitored, the source said.
Voters are urged to report suspected cases of illegal activities to prosecutors and police to help safeguard the integrity of the elections and Taiwan’s democratic system, the source added.
The CUPP has long aligned with Beijing’s “united front” and infiltration efforts, including enticing retired military personnel to visit China and engaging in vote-buying through subsidized trips funded by Chinese capital, the source said.
The party has also been linked to multiple violent criminal cases and activities deemed harmful to national security, the source said.
From 2010 to 2024, police agencies identified 134 CUPP members through anti-gang operations as having been involved in cases including murder, robbery, human trafficking, assault, public brawling, unlawful detention, extortion and obstruction of official duties, the interior ministry has said.
Other members have been prosecuted for breaching the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and the National Security Act (國家安全法), the ministry said.
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