Taipei [Taiwan], February 26 (ANI): Taiwan‘s Ministry of National Defence (MND) detected 11 Chinese military aircraft and five naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Sunday (Feb. 25) and 6 am on Monday (Feb. 26), reported Taiwan News. According to Taiwan‘s Ministry of National Defence, of the 11 Chinese military aircraft, one Chinese drone crossed the Taiwan Strait median line and entered the southwest and southeast corners of the country’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND. Another PLA aircraft also flew into the southwest sector of the ADIZ.

Following China’s action, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed air defence missile systems to monitor the PLA activity, according to Taiwan News report. Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan.

Gray zone tactics are defined as “an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one’s security objectives without resort to direct and sizable use of force.” So far this month, Taiwan has tracked Chinese military aircraft 209 times and naval ships 126 times. (ANI)

Taiwan: Two indicted for financing candidate in local polls using ‘Beijing money’

Taipei [Taiwan], February 26 (ANI): A Taiwanese man and a Chinese woman were indicted for allegedly providing Chinese funds to a pro-unification New Taipei City Council candidate in Taiwan’s local elections in 2022, Central News Agency Taiwan reported, citing the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office.

The office said in a statement on Monday the Taiwanese man, Sun Chih-chuan, colluded with the Chinese woman, surnamed Da, on Beijing’s instructions to remit 100,000 Chinese yuan to Taiwan to support Wang Cheng of the Labor Party.

According to the statement, the remittance was made through various intermediaries, and ended up as a USD 10,000 transfer from an account held by Da in Hong Kong to an account set up by Wang’s older sister in Taiwan, prosecutors said.

They described Sun as the deputy director of the Taipei-based Chinese Youth Development Union, responsible for the union’s business affairs in China, and Da as the director of the Federation of Hong Kong Jiangsu Youth.

Da’s federation allegedly received assignments from the United Front Work Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and is a source of infiltration under Taiwan’s Anti-Infiltration Act, according to prosecutors.

Wang spent 3,42,065 of the 4,35,000 (New Taipei Dollar) he received to purchase promotional materials for his campaign, including face masks to be distributed to voters, prosecutors said in the indictment handed down Monday, the Central News Agency Taiwan, reported.

All of those actions violated the Anti-Infiltration Act and the Political Donations Act, prosecutors charged in the indictment. The prosecutors said under Taiwanese law, candidates who accept political donations from residents, associations, or other institutions in Hong Kong and Macau, as well as China, must confirm whether the donations comply with provisions in the Political Donations Act.

If the donations do not conform to the regulations and cannot be returned, they shall be turned over to the Control Yuan for deposit into the National Treasury within three months after the election date, the statement said.

However, both Sun and Da have denied that the organisations they belong to have relationships with Beijing. Sun has argued that all he did was lend money to Wang, and Da said she merely exchanged currency for Sun, Central News Agency Taiwan reported. Sun is currently being held in custody, while Da has been barred from travelling abroad. (ANI)