A pro-Beijing front group’s president Zhou Qingjun (L) and secretary Zhang Xiuye (R) assaulted Falun Gong practitioners outside Taipei 101 plaza in 2017, in Taipei, Taiwan.(Ke-Ren/The Epoch Times)
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A pro-Beijing group founded in Taiwan by a mainland Chinese immigrant took funds from the Chinese regime to carry out disruptive activities in the island nation.
Members of the Patriot Alliance Association (PAA) have been charged with violations of Taiwan’s Anti-Infiltration Act and National Security Act.
The Taipei Prosecutor’s Office said that the secretary general of the PAA admitted that Zhou Qingjun, the group’s president, received payments from various CCP agencies to recruit new members and carry out disruptive activities targeting pro-democracy activists and Falun Gong adherents in Taiwan.
On July 5, Taipei Prosecutor’s Office issued a “Notice of Non-Prosecution” due to the death of the defendant, PAA President Zhou Qingjun. Zhou died of a COVID-19 infection about a year ago.
In addition, the prosecutor issued a wanted notice for two other defendants, Zhou’s wife and PAA secretary general Zhang Xiuye. Both women are believed to be hiding in China. An investigation into their alleged crimes is ongoing.
The notice said Zhang had told prosecutors that Zhou had received funds from various local government agencies in China and that his wife managed the money. Zhang also said Zhou had received an order from the CCP to recruit more people to join PAA.
The funds, usually in cash, were smuggled into Taiwan by Zhou after he traveled to China on business.
Business Interests in China
Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) reported that in 2011, Zhou and his wife Lin Mingmei went to Dangyang city, Hubei province to start a fish farm. There they came into contact with the local CCP government’s Taiwan Affairs Office. Subsequently, with the help of CCP officials, the couple established at least one more business in Zhuhai, Guangdong province.
The couple received funds from the CCP Taiwan Affairs Offices in Hubei province, Guangdong province, Beijing, and the PRC state council office for Taiwan Affairs, according to CNA.
The Taipei prosecutor’s notice said that each time Zhou and his wife returned to Taiwan, they would bring $10,000 USD and ¥20,000 Chinese RMB in cash. These funds are used to recruit PAA members and sponsor PAA activities.
PAA Activities in Taiwan
PAA’s activities in Taiwan included attacking Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong and musician Denise Ho when they visited Taiwan; organizing thugs to protest outside the Presidential Office Building waiving Chinese flags; and protesting the removal of pro-CCP Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu in May 2020.
The PAA also used CCP funds to sponsor Zhang’s campaign for Taipei city council in 2018. But Zhou and Zhang were convicted of engaging in bribery that year.
Zhang Xiuye (masked), a member of the pro-Beijing group Patriot Alliance Association, is arrested outside Taipei 101 building for harassing Falun Gong practitioners on March 6, 2015. (minghui.org)
The Taipei prosecutor’s notice said that under the order of the Hubei provincial Taiwan Affairs Office, PAA started to harass and attack Falun Gong members at their information booth outside Taipei 101 building in 2013.
According to minghui.org, a U.S.-based website documenting the persecution of Falun Gong, PAA members have reportedly assaulted and physically attacked local Falun Gong practitioners who have been operating an information booth in Taipei 101 Plaza since 2009.
The practitioners have used the booth to spread information about the persecution in the mainland, and have called on the Chinese regime to stop persecuting Falun Gong.