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
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as