ELECTION MEDDLING: The father of mayoral candidate Puma Shen, the brother of UMC founder Robert Tsao and the interior minister’s nephew were cited as examples
By Hollie Younger / Staff writer
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) could be intensifying suppression of family members of so-called “diehard Taiwanese separatists,” including the father of Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋), in an attempt to sway the upcoming election, a report by a US think tank said on Tuesday.
Beijing is “likely targeting family members of ‘separatists’ to coerce the ‘separatists’ to stop their activities that the PRC views as promoting ‘Taiwanese independence,’” the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest “China and Taiwan Update,” written in collaboration with the American Enterprise Institute.
The paper referenced its sanctioning of VWAY, a company owned by Shen Tu-cheng (沈土城), the father of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen.
An illustration on Jan. 25, 2022, shows chess pieces in front of the flags of Taiwan, right, and China.
Photo: Dado Ruvic, Reuters
The sanctions, announced on Wednesday last week by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), prohibit VWAY from trading with PRC organizations, enterprises or individuals, it said.
Puma Shen was added to the list of about a dozen “diehard separatists” in October 2024, who may face severe punishment — including the death penalty — under 2024 legal interpretations of Beijing’s “Anti-Secession” Law, it said.
Other political figures facing coercive measures from Beijing include the brother of United Microelectronics Corp founder Robert Tsao (曹興誠), who was denied entry to China earlier this month, and the nephew of the Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳), who lost his job in China in April, it said.
Meanwhile, a woman was arrested in California earlier this month for allegedly spying on the son of President William Lai (賴清德) on behalf of China, the report said.
Lai, Puma Shen and Liu are all members of the DPP, which “considers Taiwan and the PRC to be separate countries,” it said.
The article suggested that Beijing was ramping up coercive measures against Puma Shen in the lead-up to the nine-in-one local elections on Nov. 28.
In a poll by Taipei Trust in Democracy Association last month, Puma Shen was trailing his main opponent, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), by 1.2 points, but the latest poll by the same group showed him ahead by 17 points.
“Jun Zhengping,” a social media account affiliated with the Chinese military, and the TAO also blasted Taiwanese television host Kevin Tsai (蔡康永) for attending a campaign event for Puma Shen, saying that advocates of “Taiwanese independence” are “betrayers of the Chinese nation” and that there is no room for ambiguity in “matters of principle,” the article said.
Even if these efforts fail to convince Puma Shen to drop out of the race, public targeting could dissuade Taiwanese public figures from associating with the legislator or his views, it added.