Prosecutors on Friday requested that a Chinese immigrant be detained incommunicado on suspicion of leading dozens of people on a trip to China and telling them to support certain political parties.
The suspect, 49-year-old Tsai Zhan-ping (蔡占萍), moved to Taiwan 20 years ago from China’s Jiangsu Province for marriage.
Last year she was named a winner of the eighth “Dream Building Project for New Residents and their Children” award by the National Immigration Agency for her dedication to caring for her hearing-impaired son.
Photo: Reuters
Tsai also founded and serves as president of the Greater Kaohsiung Cross-Strait Economic and Cultural Promotion Association.
Investigators believe that Tsai, at the instruction of officers handling Taiwan affairs in the Jiangsu provincial government, led more than 30 people on a trip to Nantong City, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Some of the people were Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) employees or assistants of city councilors, it said.
The trip was mostly paid for by Nantong City, including a banquet hosted by the Taiwan affairs officials, who shared “united front” propaganda, it said.
After returning, Tsai through a group chat encouraged the participants to support certain candidates and political parties, it added.
Seventeen people were brought in for questioning on Thursday, the office said.
As Tsai was uncooperative, prosecutors said they believe she poses a collusion or flight risk and applied with a court for her to be detained incommunicado.
The other 16 suspects and witnesses were released after questioning, the office added.
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
RSS