Two officials of the Reunification Alliance Party were indicted yesterday for violating election laws and the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), the Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office said.
The two men, surnamed Huang (黃) and Chang (張), are head and director-general of the party’s Pingtung chapter respectively.
They allegedly organized trips to China for Pingtung residents in September and October last year, at the request of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), prosecutors said in a news release.
Photo: Lee Li-fa, Taipei Times
The prosecutors said that the people on those trips were required to pay only their airfare, while their accommodation, local transportation, food and activity fees were covered by China.
During the trip, the participants met with Chinese officials, who said that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are “one family,” prosecutors said, adding that they also mentioned “peaceful reunification” and the so-called “1992 consensus” — a political term which implies that Taiwan and China belong to “one China.”
The officials also hinted that the participants should vote for a certain presidential candidate and certain political parties, they said.
Upon their return to Taiwan, Chang and Huang convened a meeting of the party’s Pingtung chapter and urged the members, including those who had been on the trip to China, to vote for certain candidates and parties in the Jan. 13 elections, prosecutors said.
Chang and Huang also made similar appeals on online communication platforms, they said, adding that the two men are believed to have been taking directives from China.
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RSS