The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday said that it had opened a probe into allegations that Beijing is buying off borough wardens with trips to China ahead of next month’s presidential and legislative elections.
The investigation revolves around six people who might have contravened the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), the office said, adding that police were tasked with the probe.
A group mainly composed of wardens and people active in local politics are under investigation, it said.
Photo: Chen Chien-chi, Taipei Times
China has been targeting wardens and other community-level officials in central Taiwan with tour deals in an attempt to interfere with the upcoming elections, sources said.
The group tours cost NT$13,000 to NT$15,000 per person, but Chinese officials shoulder a generous portion of that, sometimes paying almost in full, Taichung wardens said.
Multiple wardens in Taichung’s Tanzih (潭子) and Fongyuan (豐原) districts received suspicious calls from self-claimed Taiwanese entrepreneurs about group tours to China, they said.
Most wardens in the region were reluctant to break the law and too busy with campigning to attend such tours, they said.
Meanwhile, a score of teachers and principals from public schools in Keelung visited China’s Shandong Province on a five-day tour group that might also be funded by China, TV channel SETN reported on Tuesday, citing a leaked itinerary.
Members of the 10-day tour paid NT$9,000 per person — an unusually low price, it said.
Keelung City Councilor Jiho Chang (張之豪), of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), expressed concern over China’s infiltration of schools, adding that the cheapness of the trip raises red flags.
Separately, the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office in Kaohsiung yesterday said it was investigating five people over accusations they had arranged free trips to China for dozens of voters in a bid to “influence” next month’s elections.
They allegedly arranged trips to China’s Hunan Province last month for 60 people from Kaohsiung and Taitung County and offered "benefits,” including free meals, accommodation and transportation, it said.
In return, they “asked for their support for candidates from certain political parties and with specific political leanings in an attempt to influence voters’ intentions and the election results,” the prosecutors said.
Additional reporting by Ou Su-mei,
Chang Hsuan-che, Lu Hsien-Hsiu, and AFP
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