Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: Screenshot
CHINA HAS UPDATED its list of Taiwanese independence advocates that it sanctions. In particular, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) announced last month that it has opened a new mailbox for individuals to report tips on what are termed “Taiwanese independence hired thugs”. According to the TAO, it has received 323 reports to date. Eleven individuals are listed as “hired thugs”.
Strangely, the TAO already had an e-mail inbox for tips on “Taiwanese independence separatists.” It is improbable that the e-mail inbox has only received 323 reports, given that the inbox has likely received a number of prank messages from Taiwanese or others. But with the announcement of “Taiwanese independence hired thugs”, strangely, a preceding list of Taiwanese independence advocates that the Chinese government sanctioned has now been removed from the TAO website.
This list first consisted of senior DPP officials who served in the Tsai or Lai administrations, such as Su Tseng-chang, Joseph Wu, and Yu Shyi-kun, when it was first announced in September 2021. In August 2022, Taiwan’s representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim, then-National Security Council head Wellington Koo, DPP caucus leader Ker Chien-ming, NPP chair Chen Jiau-hua, DPP legislator Wang Ting-yu, and then-DPP vice secretary-general Lin Fei-fan were added to the list. In a sign of Beijing’s further displeasure, Hsiao was sanctioned a second time in November 2023.
Subsequently, Huang Shih-tsung, Lee Zheng-hao, Liu Bao-jie, Wang Yi-chuan, and Yu Pei-chen were sanctioned as independence advocates in May 2024. These were either politicians or political commentators, a move that was interpreted at the time as indicating that media commentators were now within the purview of political sanctions. Though some of these five individuals, too, were labeled “diehard” supporters of Taiwanese independence, what was unusual was some of these were, in fact, individuals who had pan-Blue political backgrounds.
In June 2024, new legal guidelines were announced by the TAO that included capital punishment within the scope of punishment for Taiwanese independence advocates. Then, in October 2024, China added the Kuma Academy, DPP legislator Puma Shen, and UMC founder Robert Tsao to the list. Shen is the founder of the Kuma Academy, which is Taiwan’s best-known civil defense organization, while Tsao is its funder. The sanctions on Shen, Tsao, and the Kuma Academy may indicate that China sees civil defense efforts as a deterrent to its efforts to take Taiwan.
The new list of “Taiwanese independence hired thugs” probably does not replace previous sanctions, but it does indicate Beijing’s priorities at present. Shen, Tsao, and DPP secretary-general Rosalia Wu remain on the list of “hired thugs”, showing continuity with previous sanction groupings.
The Taiwan Affairs Office’s list of “Taiwanese independence hired thugs.” Photo credit: Screenshot
At the same time, Internet personalities who have raised the alarm about Chinese infiltration efforts in Taiwan, such as YouTuber Pa Chiung, rapper Chen Po-yuan, and dentist and commentator Shih Shu-hua have been listed as “hired thugs.” So, too, have Taipei district prosecutors Lin Da, Lin Jun-yan, and Lin Jun-ting. Chiung and Chen previously publicized Chinese United Front activity in Taiwan’s entertainment industry through a two-part YouTube expose involving Chen going undercover to shoot a promotional video in China, as a former pro-CCP influencer.
As a legal expert, Lin Da previously wrote articles analyzing the “Yaya in Taiwan” case, involving a Chinese influencer whose residency permit in Taiwan was revoked over overt support for the military annexation of Taiwan by China. Lin Jun-yan and Lin Jun-ting were also involved in the legal case that has led to the jailing of former Taipei mayor and TPP founder Ko Wen-je.
Interestingly, of the prosecutor trio, Lin Da is an outlier in that he is perceived as not, in fact, pro-independence. Lin is a follower of Buddhist leader Miaotian, who came under mockery in 2017 over his expensive lifestyle. Miaotian is generally perceived as a pan-Blue figure. Strangely, on the list, Lin Jun-ting appears wearing a face mask, though images of him without a mask should be readily available online.
From this, it can be seen that Beijing is carefully watching two current events in Taiwan. Namely the legal troubles of Ko Wen-je regarding corruption charges about the Core Pacific City Mall in Taipei and the deportation of Chinese influencers residing in Taiwan who are supportive of armed annexation.
It may be that the Chinese government wishes to throw support behind the KMT and TPP’s narrative that the DPP has taken to targeting political opponents with phony legal charges and unfairly targets Chinese spouses of Taiwanese residing in Taiwan. At the same time, the KMT and TPP may precisely want to avoid the perception of being backed by China, and so this association may prove dangerous for the two pan-Blue parties.