The government would stop issuing permits for correspondents from Strait Herald and other newspapers in the Fujian Daily Newspaper Group, after Strait Herald was found to have intervened in political elections in Taiwan by releasing false polling results, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
“The newspaper was part of China’s ‘united front’ tactics against Taiwan, and its director, Lin Jingdong (林靖東), received funding and instructions from the Chinese government to intervene in Taiwan’s political elections by fabricating polling results,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told reporters at the council’s weekly news conference.
“We think that the Strait Herald ... is not an ordinary news agency. The newspaper as well as other publications in the group will not be permitted to have correspondents stationed in Taiwan,” Liang said.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
Strait Herald has one correspondent in Taiwan, who is allowed to stay until Jan. 23, Liang said, adding that no new correspondents could be allowed in after that date.
In a YouTube video on China’s “united front” tactics produced by Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源) and YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯), Lin told Chen that she had contacted Taiwanese YouTuber A-jia (阿嘉) and told her that she can apply for funding from the Chinese government if she were to run for office in Taiwan.
The documentary also interviewed Lin Jincheng (林金城), head of the Taiwan Youth Entrepreneurship Park in Quanzhou in China’s Fujian Province, who said that 200,000 Taiwanese have obtained Chinese ID cards.
With the cards, Taiwanese can apply for loans from Chinese banks without adhering to Chinese regulations of credit limits, Lin Jincheng said.
Liang said that whether Lin Jincheng’s claim was true requires further investigation.
Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) bans Taiwanese from having Chinese passports or having a registered household in China, or their Taiwanese household registration papers, ID cards and passports would be invalidated, Liang said.
Only 679 Taiwanese have contravened the regulation in the past 10 years, he said.
“Before receiving Chinese ID cards, Taiwanese must turn in their Taiwanese household registration documents, ID cards and passports as per Chinese law,” Liang said.
“If what Lin Jingcheng said was true, that one can get a Chinese ID card without turning in their Taiwanese card, then either local government workers colluded with banks to commit fraud, or Beijing tacitly allows these illegal matters to continue. Either way, we need to look into that,” he said.
Liang said that it is likely that such matters were able to proceed through organized crime groups, adding that national security officials are investigating the claims.
“These are potentially ‘business opportunities’ generated through ‘united front’ tactics, but it is the money of the Chinese people that is at stake,” he said.
In other news, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said that it would fine the contractors broadcasting its New Year’s Eve concert for showing a China Central Television program on a large outdoor screen near the event’s end.
Aside from the program, the screen showed images of the Chinese national flag, fighter jets and TV commercials.
“The incident is similar to one in August last year, in which Chinese propaganda commercials were shown on a bus in Taichung carrying military conscripts. It is really inappropriate,” Liang said, adding that organizers should rectify the situation.
Article 34 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area regulates Taiwanese media outlets airing Chinese programs, but it does not apply in this situation, Liang said.
‘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
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
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
RSS