Reunification Alliance Party officials detained over China trip case

Taipei, Jan. 6 (CNA) Two officials from the Reunification Alliance Party have been detained on suspicion of breaching election interference rules by organizing trips to China at the request of the Chinese government, Pingtung District Prosecutors Office said on Saturday.

The suspects were identified by their last names Chang (張), who heads the party's Pingtung chapter, and Huang (黃), who is the chapter's director-general, the office said in a news release.

Between September and October last year, Chang and Huang allegedly organized a trip to the Chinese provinces of Hunan and Shanxi, during which some 20 Pingtung residents participated.

The trip came at the request of China's Taiwan Affairs Offices (TAO), prosecutors said, indicating that the cost of accommodation, meals, local transportation and activity fees incurred while in China were covered by Chinese local authorities, and the participants only paid the cost of the airfare.

While there, the Taiwanese group also met with local TAO officials, who spoke about "peaceful reunification," the "1992 consensus" -- a political term which indicates that Taiwan and China belong to "one China" -- and mentioned that both sides of the Taiwan Strait are "one family," prosecutors said.

After the trip, both Chang and Huang held a meeting of the Pingtung chapter where they asked members, including those who went on the China trip, to vote for a "certain political party" and "candidates" in Taiwan's upcoming Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections, prosecutors said, suspecting the event came at the instructions of TAO.

Raids were carried out at the residences of Chang and Huang on Thursday, during which the two and other participants on the China trip were questioned over the case, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, Chang and Huang are being investigated for suspected contravention of the Anti-Infiltration Act and the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act.

After questioning, prosecutors said they filed a request to detain the two, as they could potentially flee the country and collude with others to destroy evidence, during an ongoing investigation. The request was granted by Pingtung District Court on Friday.