Taipei District Prosecutors Office Holds Election Investigation Symposium at Taipei City Investigation Bureau, Urges Curbing Foreign Interference

(Central News Agency reporter Lin Changshun, Taipei 11th) Taipei District Prosecutors Office Chief Prosecutor Wang Junli, overseeing election investigation preparations, today held a symposium on local public office election investigations at the Investigation Bureau's Taipei City Investigation Office. He urged investigative agencies to integrate combat power, master intelligence, meticulously gather evidence, vigorously crack down, and severely punish illegal activities.

Chief Prosecutor Wang Junli today led Election Investigation Executive Secretary and Chief Prosecutor Li Zhongren, Zonal Supervising Chief Prosecutors Guo Jinchang, Huang Yuren, Zeng Yangling, and Lin Yanjun to the Taipei City Investigation Office for the symposium. The Taipei City Investigation Office was represented by Director Xu Mingyou, who led the heads of election investigation operations and personnel from the Da'an, Zhongzheng, Zhongshan, Songshan, and Mobile investigation stations to jointly discuss investigation strategies.

During the meeting, the Mobile Investigation Station, Zhongshan Investigation Station, and Information and Communications Security Division reported on cases related to the Anti-Infiltration Act and countermeasures against disinformation. Chief Prosecutor Li Zhongren delivered a special report on the analysis and advancement of election interference cases. Finally, an exchange of views was held on the current problems and challenges faced in investigating election interference. By reviewing the accumulated experience from past cases, the goal was to refine investigation strategies and enhance investigation effectiveness.

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office pointed out that the Taipei City Investigation Office's jurisdiction for election investigations covers the entire city of Taipei. In past elections, it has reported and subsequently cracked many important cases of election interference. Analyzing the types of election interference cases from past elections, the Taipei City Investigation Office has achieved significant results not only in basic forms of election interference such as vote-buying, phantom voters, and defamation, but has also actively collected and reported intelligence on cases of foreign interference in elections, which have severely harmed election fairness in recent years. It has initiated investigations and cracked multiple cases, achieving outstanding performance.

Chief Prosecutor Wang Junli stated that investigative agencies have rich experience in cracking down on foreign interference in elections in the past. He expects investigative agencies to leverage their expertise in fund auditing. By investigating the abnormal inflow and disturbance processes of illegal capital flows such as underground remittances, fraud, and money laundering, they can uncover illegal acts of foreign interference in elections. Furthermore, they should trace back to find collaborators or dispatched individuals of foreign hostile forces in Taiwan, completely eradicating the collaborative organizations of foreign hostile forces in Taiwan.

Chief Prosecutor Wang Junli emphasized that this election faces three severe challenges: structural vote-buying prone to occur in local elections, the rapid spread of disinformation, and foreign interference in elections. All investigative agencies should discuss investigation measures and plans in advance. For structural vote-buying, there should be long-term deployment and trace-back investigation plans.

Additionally, to prevent the spread of disinformation, standard operating procedures for immediate investigation, clarification, and takedown should be established. Finally, regarding foreign interference in elections, attention should be paid not only to abnormal capital inflows and outflows but also to abnormal foreign-related activities. Through rigorous election investigation planning, all types of illegal acts that interfere with elections can be prevented, jointly safeguarding the precious democratic system. (Editor: Li Xizhang) 1150611