TPP-linked Chinese spouse detained over fraud, 'infiltration' suspicions

New Taipei, Nov. 27 (CNA) The New Taipei District Court has agreed to detain and hold incommunicado China-born Xu Chunying (徐春鶯), who is suspected of defrauding banks and campaigning for candidates in Taiwan elections under paid instructions from China.

The court on Thursday approved a request by the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office to detain Xu, who was brought in for questioning Wednesday after her home and 10 other locations were searched by the Taichung office of the Investigation Bureau the same day.

In a text message to media, the court said there were strong suspicions that the defendant violated Article 4 of the Anti-Infiltration Act and other laws after questioning her and considering the evidence presented by prosecutors.

The court ordered that the defendant be detained and not allowed to have visits because of the suspicion of criminal conduct and because Xu posed a flight risk and might destroy evidence or collude with witnesses on their testimony, it said.

According to prosecutors, Xu is suspected of three crimes, including allegedly violating the Anti-Infiltration Act.

They suspect she was instructed by and receiving money from China to support former Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je's (柯文哲) 2024 presidential run and Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊) during her 2022 run for Taipei mayor as an independent.

Huang later joined the TPP in 2023.

Prosecutors did not offer any evidence in their statement to support their suspicions or provide details on what actions Xu may have taken in supporting Ko and Huang.

Xu was also suspected of engaging in illegal money transfers of NT$100 million (US$316,505) between China and Taiwan, and defrauding banks of NT$200 million with forged documents, according to sources, without providing any further details.

In response, the TPP said in a statement Thursday night it will closely follow the case, and it urged authorities to follow legal procedures and avoid engaging in "political manipulation."

Xu was not the only person of interest in these cases. In addition to Xu, Investigation Bureau personnel brought in six other suspects and 12 witnesses for questioning. The six suspects were later released after posting bail, but they were barred from leaving the country

There had been no public suggestion that Xu was involved in potential crimes until Thursday.

She was previously in the news at the center of a nationality controversy in 2023, when the TPP announced it was considering her as a potential legislator-at-large candidate in the January 2024 legislative elections.

According to Taiwanese law, Xu, who has lived in Taiwan for about 30 years and had been a citizen for 23 years as of 2023, was eligible to run for office as a Taiwanese citizen, but would have had to renounce her Chinese citizenship if elected to public office.

That requirement, however, is virtually impossible to meet.

Under PRC law, Chinese nationals who have settled abroad and been naturalized as a "foreign national" shall "automatically lose Chinese nationality."

But China does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state, making it hard for people like Xu to qualify as a "foreign national" in Beijing's eyes.

(By Sunrise Huang and Hsiao Hsu-chen)

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