Taiwan on alert for Chinese-funded election interference
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[June 21, 2023]
By Yimou Lee
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's government says China will try to interfere
in key elections in January by illicitly funding Beijing-friendly
candidates using communications apps or group tours, according to three
internal security reports reviewed by Reuters.
President Tsai Ing-wen's government has repeatedly warned of China's
attempts to influence public opinion on the democratically governed
island, which Beijing claims as its own territory despite Taipei's
strong objections.
Although senior Taiwan officials, including the head of the National
Security Council, Wellington Koo, have this year warned that China could
try to sway the presidential and legislative elections with influence
campaigns including misinformation, details of how Taiwan thinks China
may use illicit funding have not previously been reported.
"They hope to influence Taiwanese people by reaching out to the
grassroots," said one Taiwan security official with direct knowledge of
the matter. "They hope to influence swing voters who don't have
particular political affiliation and would vote for whoever gives them
benefits."
High on the government's watch list for likely recipients in Taiwan are
small political parties that support Beijing's sovereignty claims over
the island, local councillors, and temples that engage in exchange
activities with China, according one of the classified reports reviewed
by Reuters.
Beijing could also offer free trips to China to hundreds of Taiwanese
involved in election campaigns ahead of the vote to "influence voting
decisions", another of the internal reports said, pointing to local
politicians such as borough chiefs and village heads.
The government formed a cross-ministry security task force dubbed "Ping
Shun", or safe and sound, this year to look into possible voting
interference at home or abroad, according to that person and another
security official with direct knowledge of the matter. Both declined to
be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
It is illegal under Taiwanese law for an election campaign to receive
money from "external hostile forces," including China.
According to another of the internal reports, which Reuters has reviewed
and is based upon Taiwanese intelligence, China could send money in via
popular Chinese social networking and chat app WeChat, which allows
direct transfers among users, and is available in Taiwan.
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Students salute Taiwan's President Tsai
Ing-wen during a graduation ceremony at the National Defense
University in Taipei, Taiwan June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Ann Wang
The Chinese government could "instruct candidates to set up public
WeChat accounts and then mobilise users to give monetary support via
'viewer donations'," the report said. WeChat allows individuals to
transfer up to 50,000 yuan ($6,971) to others in a single
transaction and a maximum of 200,000 yuan a day.
The report, citing an analysis of intelligence, also said China
could work with travel agencies and ask members of group tours to
carry cash into Taiwan. The report said the underground banking
systems in Taiwan, which are widely known but difficult to regulate,
could provide foreign exchange support.
"The Chinese Communist Party could financially support specific
domestic groups or people and give them political donations or
funding needed for elections," a third classified report from the
agency said.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to requests for
comment. China has refused to talk to Tsai or her Democratic
Progressive Party, calling them separatists. She cannot run for
president again because of term limits.
"China has used various means to actively intervene in elections to
interfere in or influence election results," Taiwan's China
policy-making Mainland Affairs Council told Reuters, adding the
moves were meant to push for China's political agenda that included
"promoting unification" with Taiwan.
Some Taiwanese have been prosecuted in recent years over receiving
illicit support from China in election campaigns. A government unit
in southern China sponsored COVID-19 self-testing kits for the
election campaign of a borough chief candidate in New Taipei City
last year, who was this month found guilty of violating bribery and
anti-infiltration laws.
The reports say other possible funding channels include payment
cards that use the China UnionPay network, which allows Taiwanese to
legally withdraw money from bank accounts in China, as well as via
direct transfers to Taiwan-based charitable funds.
($1 = 7.1717 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting By Yimou Lee. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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