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.
Photo: Taipei Times
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, police enhanced their security presence around movie theaters, it said.
They include theaters such as Showtime Cinemas in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港), as well as public entities such as the Kaohsiung City Council and Ministry of Culture, it said.
Kaohsiung reported receiving the most threats at seven incidents, followed by Taipei, New Taipei City and Yilan County each reporting three cases.
Preliminary investigations into the origins of the e-mails have found that eight were sent from France, followed by five each from the US and China, and two each from Germany, Hong Kong and the UK, the bureau said.
Threats have also been received from Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Japan, Spain and Russia, suggesting that the criminals are using virtual private networks to hide their origins, it added.
The threats are part of a larger strategy by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to interfere with all levels of Taiwan’s society, the bureau said.
China is attempting to expand its jurisdiction by pressuring Taiwan’s domestic affairs, imposing its national security and “anti-secession” laws on Taiwanese, and utilizing intelligence networks abroad to target individuals, it said.
The bureau vowed to continue to closely monitor the CCP’s cyberintimidation attempts against Taiwanese, bolster domestic security and keep the public informed.
It also said it would seek to build up its international intelligence cooperation as well as domestic security initiatives to confront the CCP’s attempts at isolating and diminishing Taiwan.
The bureau said it has submitted a written report to the legislature, and the body’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee is today scheduled to hear a report on “The difficulties of screening State Organs in Taiwan, China’s long-arm jurisdiction strategy toward Taiwan and Taiwan’s response” today.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
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
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