Public prosecutors yesterday indicted a Taiwanese and a Chinese national on charges of funneling money from Chinese sources to fund a Labor Party candidate running for New Taipei City councilor in 2022’s local elections.
New Taipei City prosecutors charged Sun Chih-chuan (孫志全), deputy chairman of the Taiwan-based Chinese Youth Development Union, and Dong Dachi (董笪琦), a Chinese executive at the Federation of Hong Kong Jiangsu Youth, with contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法).
Evidence indicated that Sun and Dong, using a complex route to hide the Chinese source of funding, transferred about NT$430,000 to fund the election campaign of Wang Cheng (王正), the pro-China unification Labor Party candidate, prosecutors said in a filing.
Photo: Wang Ting-chuan, Taipei Times
Sun and Dong are listed as suspects who allegedly made illegal election donations, promoted infiltration by foreign hostile forces (usually referred to as those based in China and Hong Kong), worked to subvert Taiwan’s national security and social stability, and undermined Taiwan’s sovereignty and democratic constitutional order, as stipulated in the Anti-Infiltration Act.
Prosecutors have also filed separate charges against Wang and his sister Wang Li (王立), accusing them of breaching the Political Donations Act by facilitating and accepting money from Chinese sources.
An investigation showed that Sun and Dong allegedly colluded to transfer 100,000 yuan (US$13,895 at the current exchange rate) in September 2022, with the money coming from Sun’s father-in-law, who owns a trading company. The money was listed on the company’s books as payment for procurement of chemical materials, but it went to Dong’s bank account in Hong Kong. Dong then wired the money to Wang Li to fund for her brother’s election campaign, investigators said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
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