Security agencies have identified at least 15 members or close associates of the Chinese Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) among candidates registered for Taiwan's year-end nine-in-one local elections, a national security source said. The candidates, the source said, are contesting village and borough chief, township and city representative, and county and city council seats. Security agencies are watching for what the source called a "dyed red and dyed black" risk: that these candidacies may give rise to election interference by foreign forces and by local organised crime and money politics, CNA reported.
Where are the candidates running? In the source's account, they are spread across places including Yingge in New Taipei, Pingzhen and Bade in Taoyuan, Hukou in Hsinchu, Hsinchu City's North District, Toufen in Miaoli, Minxiong in Chiayi, and Fangliao and Chaozhou in Pingtung. Only Lu A-tien (呂阿添) and Huang Chin-liang (黃金良), running for borough chief in Yingge and Hukou respectively, are standing as CUPP candidates; the rest are running for other parties or as independents, the source said. The source said this may be related to the party's outspoken advocacy of unification by force and the interior ministry's bid to dissolve it, and did not rule out that some candidates intend to play down their links to the party.
Why are security officials concerned? The interior ministry recently petitioned the Constitutional Court to dissolve the party over its long cooperation with China's united front and infiltration work, including vote-buying through means such as luring retired military personnel to China and Chinese-funded hosted trips, and its involvement in multiple violent criminal cases, the source said in remarks carried by CNA. Cross-checks by security agencies found, the source said, that several of the CUPP-linked candidates had been involved in criminal cases including fraud, disorderly conduct, intimidation, vote-buying, election-law violations, offences against personal liberty, assault and embezzlement.
Which cases did the source single out? Taking Tainan as an example, the source said Wang Wen-tsung (王文宗), a former CUPP branch chair, was convicted of harbouring the main suspect in a 2022 shooting case, and his daughter Wang Shih-yuan (王詩媛) registered for Tainan City Council after he left prison this year. Security agencies are watching the links between those involved and the CUPP and local forces, the source said. The source also said Liao Yu-ching (廖昱婧), a Chinese spouse from Hunan who previously ran for a legislative seat in Chiayi County and is now running for Chiayi County Council, has been listed by security agencies as someone to watch.
