The name alone of Lin Te-wang’s political party is enough to provoke suspicion. But the head of the Taiwan People’s Communist Party, of which he is also the founder, is being detained on allegations somewhat more specific than being a fan of communism. Prosecutors think that he ran for local office under the sponsorship of the CCP (Focus Taiwan/CAN, November 8, 2026).
Party Chairman Lin Te-wang was found to have allegedly accepted instructions and funding from the Chinese Communist Party to run for Tainan Ward chief in Tainan’s Xinying District, the Tainan District Prosecutors Office said Sunday.
After questioning Lin, prosecutors sought to detain him on suspicion of violating the Anti-Infiltration Act and Election and Recall Act, citing concerns he could flee or collude with others to destroy evidence, the office said.
The Tainan District Court granted the request and prohibited him from having outside contact….
The joint task force [of the Tainan District Prosecutors Office and the Hsinchu District Prosecutors Office] carried out simultaneous searches on Friday, questioning 13 suspects in Tainan and one suspect, along with nine witnesses, in Hsinchu, prosecutors said….
The task force also accused him of directing party Central Committee member Chen Zhen-zhou to run for Wuling Ward chief in Hsinchu City’s North District….
According to prosecutors, the two men also repeatedly recruited eligible voters to travel to China, where they received all-expenses-paid hospitality in what authorities suspect was an attempt to buy votes, which would violate the Election and Recall Act.
Local elections take place on November 28. Although Lin (shown above, center) is being held incommunicado, Chen was released on bail “under residential restrictions” even though prosecutors think that both men are flight risks and might try to destroy evidence if they had the chance. Other suspects have also been released for now.
Unification promotion
The ROC’s Ministry of the Interior has been petitioning the Constitutional Court to dissolve a different small pro-CCP political party, the Chinese Unification Promotion Party, on grounds that members are frequently associated with organized crime, conduct influence and recruitment operations in Taiwan in collaboration with the Chinese Communist Party, and intimidate or attack Hong Kong activists.
Meanwhile, according to a November 9 Taipei Times report, the Republic of China is planning “to amend the Anti-Infiltration Act to impose harsher penalties on people who assist China in carrying out transnational repression…. An official familiar with Chinese infiltration operations said that ideally, Taiwan should enact a separate law specifically targeting transnational repression. However, given the urgency of the situation, the government plans to first amend the Anti-Infiltration Act.”
Whether separate legislation can be passed depends on whether the ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party, can secure a legislative majority, according to an official “familiar with Chinese infiltration operations.”
