Communists in Taiwan Charged With Taking Money From China
The leaders of a communist party in Taiwan have been indicted on charges of "infiltration" -- specifically, receiving money from China that was used to influence Taiwan's elections.
Transcript
00:00 Protesting U.S. influence in Taiwan.
00:03 These are members of the Taiwan People's Communist Party,
00:06 a fringe group advocating unification with China.
00:09 They're leaders, now facing trial in Taiwan.
00:12 Prosecutors say Chairman Lin Dewang,
00:15 Vice Chairman Tsang Jianxing,
00:17 and one other received instructions and funding from Beijing
00:20 for close to a decade.
00:22 It's an accusation they deny.
00:24 I've been in politics for over 20 years.
00:27 I've been giving my money and effort in every election.
00:30 No one has ever sponsored me.
00:32 Some volunteers came from Keelung and Taoyuan.
00:37 We said, "You came from so far away,
00:39 so I'll give you a ride."
00:41 Is that reasonable?
00:42 It's not illegal to be a communist
00:44 or support unification in Taiwan,
00:46 but it is illegal to get support from a hostile nation like China.
00:51 That's due to the Anti-Infiltration Act,
00:53 a law passed in 2020 to protect Taiwan's elections
00:57 from foreign interference.
00:59 The law prevents people from canvassing,
01:01 disrupting assemblies, and spreading disinformation
01:04 with the direction or funding of a hostile foreign power.
01:08 Taiwan frequently faces cyberattacks
01:10 and disinformation campaigns
01:12 from Chinese actors targeting its democratic institutions.
01:16 A report released earlier this year by DoubleThinkLab,
01:19 a Taiwanese NGO that researches Chinese influence overseas,
01:23 showed that Taiwan was the country most influenced by China
01:26 in society and media.
01:29 China conducts campaigns abroad to promote pro-China rhetoric
01:32 under the umbrella term "united front work."
01:35 Starting from last December,
01:37 actually after our recent election,
01:41 there are more and more,
01:42 I mean a lot of united front work activities
01:45 right now here in Taiwan, a lot.
01:47 Three other people whose organizations received funding from China
01:51 to try and influence Taiwanese society
01:53 were indicted for violating the Anti-Infiltration Act
01:56 earlier this year.
01:58 With presidential elections coming up in Taiwan next year,
02:01 authorities are on high alert
02:02 for any suspected Chinese influence campaigns,
02:05 and voters will need to judge for themselves
02:07 where a candidate's true loyalty lies.
02:10 Joseph Wu and Tiffany Wong for Taiwan Plus.
02:13 [BLANK_AUDIO]