Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, and his campaign team yesterday questioned self-confessed former Chinese spy William Wang Liqiang’s (王立強) allegations about Chinese infiltration and urged President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration to release reliable information regarding the case.
Australian media on Saturday reported Wang’s account of how he was recruited by the Chinese Communist Party to spy on Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The media reports quoted Wang as saying that China had paid news networks CtiTV (中天), China Television (CTV, 中視) and Eastern Broadcasting Co (EBC, 東森電視) to broadcast news designed to negatively affect the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ahead of the Jan. 11 elections.
Photo: CNA
Commenting on an investigation by the National Communications Commission’s (NCC) into the news channels, Han wrote on Facebook: “Does the NCC work for the public or work for the DPP?”
“Are you the NCC, or the zangxixi (髒兮兮),” he wrote, using Chinese characters meaning “unclean” that sound like “NCC.”
Two hashtags he added to the post read “Clearly explain what information you have” and “green terror,” an apparent play on “White Terror.”
Describing the case as an incident of “a mistaken spy,” Han campaign office deputy executive Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) wrote on Facebook: “Please tell me exactly what you have,” referring to the Presidential Office on Saturday saying that it has information on the situation.
Is Wang a fugitive attempting to escape fraud charges, or is he collaborating with multiple state governments to “intervene in Taiwan’s elections?” Sun asked.
The NCC later said that it had spoken with management personnel at EBC, CtiTV and CTV.
They have denied the allegations, it said.
The commission said it has launched an administrative investigation into the three media firms.
Earlier yesterday, the KMT at a news conference urged the Tsai administration to thoroughly investigate Wang’s allegations and offer a clear explanation to the public.
“Based on my professional judgement, I can say with certainty that this [Wang’s allegations] are falsified in an attempt to seek political asylum,” said former Military Intelligence Bureau deputy chief Wong Yen-ching (翁衍慶), who has worked in intelligence for 35 years.
Wang’s claim that he worked in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and that he reported to two supervisors at the same time contradict basic principles of espionage, Wong said.
Spies are assigned tasks in one location at a time and will not report to multiple supervisors simultaneously, he said.
Moreover, Wang referred to China’s intelligence bureau by a former name, appearing to have no knowledge that it has been renamed, he said.
If Wang had valuable information to provide, the Australian government would protect the information by attempting to prevent him from giving interviews, Wong said.
As Canberra apparently does not trust him, Wang must have spoken to the media in an attempt to avoid being deported back to China, he said.
Separately, People First Party (PFP) Chairman and presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) said that the Tsai administration has a responsibility to explain whether Chinese spies have infiltrated the nation and are attempting to influence the elections.
“She is responsible for national security issues. Surely, our national security officials should know if such a person entered the nation,” Soong said. “Surely the Financial Supervisory Commission should investigate whether there are indeed Chinese funds being used to interfere in our elections and National Immigration Agency records should document when they arrived.”
“The ruling party and its legislative caucus should not pull the trigger because they saw a shadow,” he said.
Referring to a DPP caucus anti-infiltration bill that it unveiled yesterday, he said: “They should show that they form a responsible government and leave people to make up their minds on the kind of government they want.”
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party