As the recall vote for Kuomintang (KMT) legislators in Taiwan approaches, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilor revealed that the China Dongguan Taiwan Business Association has launched a discounted airline ticket promotion targeting Taiwanese businessmen in Dongguan. The timing of this promotion coinciding with the eve of the recall vote has raised suspicions, with critics alleging that it is part of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to mobilize Taiwanese business owners to vote “disagree” in the recall vote.
The first wave of recall voting for KMT legislators in Taiwan is set to take place on July 26th. DPP Taipei City councilor Hong Jianyi disclosed during a political commentary program that the Guangdong Dongguan City Taiwan Business Investment Enterprise Association, in collaboration with Yongxin Travel and Panda Travel, is offering 500 discounted airline tickets to Taiwanese in Dongguan and their families, with each ticket discounted by 880 Chinese yuan.
It is worth noting that this promotion is only available for four days, from July 21st to 25th, conveniently covering the crucial period leading up to the recall vote.
Hong Jianyi revealed that the original price for a round-trip ticket is around 2,000 Chinese yuan, making this promotion nearly a 40% discount. He stated, “According to information from friends, this is a covert operation to mobilize Taiwanese business owners to return to Taiwan to vote ‘disagree,’ organized by the Dongguan United Front Work Department.”
He pointed out that such tactics are common in every election in Taiwan, although the discount offered this time is more significant, it is still not as substantial as the 60% discount provided during past presidential elections.
Taiwan will be holding two unprecedented rounds of “Great Recall” voting on July 26th and August 23rd, deciding the fate of 31 KMT legislators and one county mayor. The outcome will have a significant impact on Taiwan’s political landscape.
In reality, CCP’s interference in Taiwanese elections is not an isolated incident. During the 2024 Taiwan election, Taiwanese students studying in mainland China exposed instances where schools convened meetings to promote the “1992 Consensus” and “reunification with the motherland,” urging students to sign pledges not to vote for the pro-independence DPP, even going as far as persuading family members not to vote for the DPP and reimbursing their flight tickets to return to Taiwan.
The Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan previously disclosed CCP’s tactics in interference, including providing financial support to specific candidates, offering free accommodations and travel to entice certain groups to return to Taiwan to vote, manipulating media surveys to control public opinion, cultivating pro-CCP organizations in Taiwan, and expanding their influence.
Shen Boyang, the director of the Taiwan Black Bear Institute, bluntly stated, “CCP’s intervention in Taiwan elections, even if it influences just 3% of the electorate, can alter the final results.” With the number of mainland Taiwanese businessmen already exceeding this percentage, a comprehensive mobilization to return to Taiwan to vote should not be underestimated in its impact on the elections.
Shen Boyang also revealed CCP’s strategy of “raising, enticing, and eliminating” Taiwanese artists in mainland China and its use of online manipulation since 2014 to influence young Taiwanese voters, demonstrating the ongoing evolution of CCP’s interference tactics.
According to the Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan, there were 77 identified cases of interference in 2023, involving 157 individuals, a significant increase from 16 cases and 27 individuals in 2020, reflecting the deepening extent of CCP’s intervention. From economic inducements, psychological pressure, to information manipulation, CCP is deeply infiltrating Taiwan’s democratic process.