MAC accuses Beijing of election interference over Puma Shen family firm sanctions

Taipei, Oct. 14 (CNA) The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Wednesday accused Beijing of attempting to interfere in Taiwan's elections after China announced sanctions against another company linked to the father of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋).

In a statement, MAC, Taiwan's top government agency for China affairs, said Beijing was using targeted media narratives to "label certain political camps and candidates and exert economic pressure" during the election campaign.

"This is clearly a malicious attempt to coerce Taiwanese society and interfere in our democratic elections," MAC said.

The council also noted that the latest sanctions followed the same pattern as those imposed on Shen's father's company last year, with targeted reports appearing in Hong Kong media before China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) announced punitive measures.

MAC's response came after TAO spokesperson Chen Binhua (陳斌華) announced earlier Wednesday that VWAY Co., Ltd., a company linked to Shen's father, Shen Tu-cheng (沈土城), had been barred from conducting business or cooperating with organizations, companies and individuals in China.

At a regular news briefing in Beijing, Chen said that Shen's father had used VWAY to continue trading with Chinese firms and generating profits despite sanctions imposed on another of his businesses in June 2025.

The TAO announcement followed a report published Tuesday by the pro-Beijing Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Po alleging that Shen's father had continued doing business with Chinese companies through VWAY.

At the briefing, Chen accused Shen of opposing China and obstructing cross-strait exchanges while working with his relatives to find ways to profit from the Chinese market.

"We will never allow companies associated with diehard Taiwan independence separatists to profit from the mainland," he added.

Beijing designated Shen, a legislator-at-large from the independence-leaning DPP, a "diehard Taiwan independence separatist" in October 2024, barring him and his family members from entering China, Hong Kong and Macao.

On June 5, 2025, Beijing extended sanctions to his father's trading company, Sicuens International Co., Ltd.

In comments on June 13 that year, Shen said the company had merely ordered products, including automotive parts and bicycles from ordinary suppliers in China.

In response to the TAO's announcement later Wednesday, Shen's campaign office said Taipei residents were electing a mayor and that the TAO should understand that such actions would not win the trust of the Taiwanese public.

The campaign office added that it believed incumbent Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the Kuomintang (KMT), who is seeking reelection against Shen, held the same view.

TAO rebuffs Shen on city forum

Meanwhile, the TAO on Wednesday also dismissed Shen's stated willingness to attend the annual Taipei-Shanghai Twin-City Forum if elected mayor.

Shen had said in a recent interview that he supported holding the forum later this year and would attend if elected, provided there were no political preconditions and the event offered tangible benefits, including for businesses.

At Wednesday's briefing, Chen said the forum had facilitated cooperation between Taipei and Shanghai in economic affairs and city management over the past 16 years, but accused "diehard Taiwan independence separatists" of "stoking cross-strait confrontation," saying they were "in no position to talk about cross-strait exchanges and cooperation."