Prosecutors on Tuesday questioned former Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) in relation to a case involving the fabrication of opinion polls to influence election results, days before polls open on Saturday.
He was released on bail of NT$1 million (US$32,113).
The Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office in Kaohsiung is investigating allegations of groups disseminating fabricated polling results in news reports or on social media.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
The office late last month detained former For Public Good Party deputy chairman Hsu Shao-tung (徐少東) and released two suspected coconspirators on bail.
An expanded investigation reportedly implicated Chang, a former legislator and council deputy minister who is now chairman of the Cross-Strait Roundtable Forum Association, prosecutors said.
He was summoned for questioning over alleged contraventions of the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法) and the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法), the office said yesterday.
It declined to give further details on the investigation or the nature of Chang’s alleged involvement, although he has reportedly denied any wrongdoing.
In related news, 53 people who allegedly traveled to Beijing last month on a five-day trip that was “disproportionately subsidized” by the Chinese government have been listed as defendants after questioning, the Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.
The tour guides were not tourism professionals, and the itineraries were believed to have been arranged by local offices under China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), prosecutors said in a statement.
An initial investigation found that the travelers were part of three tour groups, fewer than the 100 people and five groups initially rumored to have traveled, prosecutors said.
They are suspected of contravening the Anti-infiltration Act, Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), and the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act, prosecutors said, adding that they were questioned by the police and the National Immigration Agency on Tuesday.
During questioning, the participants said that they had been invited by Chinese officials from Jiangsu Province’s Changzhou and Hebei Province, and that the schedules had been organized by TAO officials, prosecutors said.
During the trip, Chinese officials made statements such as “support the parties that boost cross-strait relations” or “oppose Taiwanese independence,” and asked them to repeat phrases such as “both sides share the same language and blood” and “both sides need to facilitate peaceful exchanges,” they said.
Prosecutors said they would seek to clarify whether the suspects were involved in foreign interference or bribery.
Meanwhile, prosecutors said they are also investigating several people in Yilan County on suspicion of inviting village and township officials on trips to China since August last year.
The attendees were allegedly only required to pay for their airfare, while the rest of the travel expenses were paid by Chinese officials, prosecutors said.
Some attendees posted and shared photographs from the trip on social media, saying they had been invited and hosted by the TAO, they said.
After investigating the travel records of the officials, they found that the frequency of trips to the Chinese cities of Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Xiamen had increased since May last year.
Tour participants also included leaders of Taiwanese civil groups, prosecutors added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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