Prosecutors’ offices have launched investigations nationwide into allegations that Beijing is buying off local government officials with trips to China, reflecting its desperate efforts to interfere in Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections next month.
Nearly 30 percent of the 456 borough wardens in Taipei this year have been on trips to China that were fully or partially funded by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations and Chinese city governments, prosecutors said.
The Taichung Prosecutors’ Office has probed several cases of Chinese-funded trips that have been called attempts to sway the elections. It has reported that more than 300 borough and village wardens in central Taiwan were invited on trips by the CCP.
The Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office in Kaohsiung has questioned people about more than 130 Taiwanese, including wardens and other community-level officials, on free or unreasonably cheap tours funded by Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO).
Prosecutors said that those who went on the trips “received instructions from Chinese officials to invite influential local people to China.”
Investigations found that most were invited by China-leaning wardens or retired local officials. During the trips, participants attended lectures on election analysis or were hosted by the TAO and “united front” entities at events, at which they were urged to vote for pro-China candidates to remove the Democratic Progress Party (DPP) from office.
The National Security Bureau and the Mainland Affairs Council said that not only wardens have been invited to China, but also heads of temples, retired military officers, teachers and directors of youth associations. Moreover, they are encouraged to bring others with them, with some university professors found to have organized cheap tours for students.
China has a long history of interfering in Taiwan’s elections. This year, it has adopted a bottom-up approach, focusing on infiltrating Taiwan at the grassroots level, although its military intimidation has intensified.
Those suspected of organizing or participating in Chinese-funded trips face charges of contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) and the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法). The government should consider establishing a reporting or warning mechanism for local travel by officials across the Taiwan Strait.
Although Taiwan faces the possibility of a Chinese invasion, many Taiwanese lack awareness and caution regarding Beijing’s “united front” tactics, which the Mainland Affairs Council and Western democracies have warned are among the “sharp powers” that authoritarian states use to weaken democratic adversaries.
These tactics now include using Taiwanese to influence voting.
The CCP’s ploy is to take advantage of local officials’ knowledge of grassroots politics to infiltrate communities, and instead of outright promotion of unification with China — as it has usually done — Beijing has touted its economic structures and military muscle to generate discontent with Taiwan’s government to push people into voting against the DPP.
Whenever China offers benefits and says that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) prioritizes “peaceful unification,” Taiwanese should remember that they would pay with their nation’s democracy and sovereignty.
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