Taiwan is strengthening security for election candidates and pursuing tougher legal safeguards against alleged Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-linked surveillance, intimidation, and violence ahead of its Nov. 28 local elections.
During questioning at the Legislative Yuan on Oct. 27, Premier Cho Jung-tai said an interagency response platform had been established to combat suspected transnational repression and prevent foreign interference. Lawmakers warned that overseas operators could be working with local collaborators to intimidate critics of Beijing, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.
Alleged attacks deepen concerns
The concerns follow an attack on comedian Huang Yi-hao, who had satirized CCP leader Xi Jinping. According to Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry, a person in China allegedly financed surveillance of Huang and arranged a staged traffic collision intended to stop him from performing. Prosecutors have indicted five people in Taiwan. In an Oct. 21 statement, the ministry said, “No one should be subjected to violent retaliation for expressing criticism.”
Another case involves Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker and Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Po-yang, also known as Puma Shen. Prosecutors say two Hong Kong men hired Taiwanese private investigators to monitor Shen and his family in 2024. Four Taiwanese suspects have been indicted, while the alleged Hong Kong organizers are being sought, according to a separate Taipei Times report. DPP legislator Lin Ch’u-yin said Shen had installed bulletproof glass amid security concerns.
DPP legislator Wu Szu-yao also cited a recent statement by television host Kevin Tsai Kang-yung, who said on China’s Weibo platform that he had never supported Taiwan independence after facing criticism for attending a Shen campaign event. Wu compared the episode to the controversy surrounding K-pop singer Chou Tzu-yu before Taiwan’s 2016 presidential election. Mainland Affairs Council chairman Chiu Chui-cheng said Taiwanese people’s freedom of choice “should not be subject to interference or threats from the CCP,” according to the Central News Agency.
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Beijing rejected Taiwan’s accusations on Oct. 28. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua accused the DPP of inventing claims of transnational repression to stir anti-China sentiment and gain electoral support, Reuters reported.
Cabinet expands candidate protections
Cho said the cases raised by lawmakers showed “foreign forces directing these operations, with local collaborators working alongside them,” according to the Liberty Times. He pointed to the alleged surveillance of Shen, saying the Hong Kong figures suspected of commissioning and financing the operation had fled.
The premier said the government had established a coordinating platform and would use the Anti-Infiltration Act and other legal and technical measures to prevent interference. At an Oct. 22 Cabinet meeting, Cho had already instructed police and prosecutors to strengthen intelligence gathering and give candidates and related individuals special protection during the final weeks of the campaign, according to the Executive Yuan.
Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang said police would increase protection for candidates who become targets of intense online or media attacks, “regardless of which party” they represent. She also urged lawmakers to move quickly on changes to the National Security Act and the Anti-Infiltration Act so authorities could more effectively pursue people who threaten public safety or national security.
Police target gangs and local collaborators
Liu said authorities were examining possible assistance from organized crime groups, gangs, and unscrupulous private investigators. Since the start of 2026, the National Police Agency has conducted three nationwide organized-crime crackdowns. Together with other enforcement operations, they have produced 483 cases involving 2,886 suspects and more than NT$700 million (about US$21.6 million) in seized or identified illicit proceeds, according to the Taipei Times. The figures describe broader organized-crime enforcement, not confirmed Chinese-linked cases.
With the campaign in its final stretch, Liu said police across Taiwan would “do everything possible to prevent transnational repression, local gangs, and local collaborators from affecting Taiwan’s elections.” She warned that such interference would harm the island’s democratic development, the Liberty Times reported.
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