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Man indicted for organizing China tours to allegedly sway Taiwan voters

ROC Central News Agency

12/26/2023 07:57 PM

Taipei, Dec. 26 (CNA) A man has been indicated for breaching laws against election interference by organizing group tours to China partially funded by local Chinese governments, during which participants were asked to vote for Beijing's preference in the 2024 election, Kaohsiung prosecutors said Monday.

The man, surnamed Cheng (鄭), is the first to be charged with engaging in actions -- sponsored by a source of infiltration -- that allegedly have the intent of swaying voters toward candidates favored by Beijing in the presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 13, according to a press release by Taiwan Ciaotou District Prosecutors Office.

Between May 7 and Oct. 28, Cheng contacted officials from provincial Taiwan Affairs Offices (TAO) in Shandong, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Henan, to arrange "on-site hospitality trips" funded by the Chinese authorities and invited incumbent and former borough chiefs and others to go on tours, prosecutors said.

Over 130 people participated in such trips during that period, they added.

As arranged by Cheng and the TAO offices, the cost of accommodation, meals, local transportation, entrance and activity fees incurred while in China were covered by Chinese local authorities, and the participants only paid the cost of airfare, insurance, and other fees, according to the prosecutors' statement.

Of the fees each participant paid for the group tours, NT$2,000 (US$64.6) was given to Cheng as an administrative fee, it said.

During the trips, Chinese officials from the TAO and the United Front Work Department engaged with the visitors, asked about their voting intention and encouraged them to vote for certain political parties and candidates and to campaign for those favored by Beijing on returning to Taiwan, according to the statement.

Kaohsiung prosecutors have charged Cheng with violation of Article 4-1 and 7-1 of the Anti-Infiltration Act, Article 86-1 of Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act, and Article 99-1 of the Public officials Election And Recall Act that outline restrictions and penalties related to potential election interference.

Cheng admitted his wrongdoing following the prosecutors' investigation, voluntarily surrendering relevant evidence and gave assurances he would not commit the same offenses again, the prosecutors said.

Given the defendant's positive post-offense attitude and potentially none awareness of illegality -- possibly due to the rarity of previous indictments related to election interference -- the court is urged to consider these factors in its judgment, as highlighted in the prosecutors' press release.

(By Tsai Meng-yu and Shih Hsiu-chuan)

Enditem/AW