TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is not prioritizing new immigrants to Taiwan for its investigations into election interference, the government said Thursday (Jan. 4).
As the Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections approach, the authorities have intensified their probes into attempts by China to influence the result. When the MOJ presented a report on its work at last week’s Cabinet meeting, it mentioned new residents as a target for investigation.
Several Cabinet ministers thought the wording of the report was inappropriate as it could be interpreted as discrimination, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported. The MOJ later revised the content of the document.
The government said Thursday that the ministry had wanted to focus the attention of the public on attempts to influence the elections, but without singling out any specific part of the population. The contents of the report had already been revised, so the public should not feel too concerned, according to the Cabinet.
The original version of the document mentioned the risk of new residents forming associations to interfere with the elections. After objections that the wording might amount to discriminatory language and to profiling, the MOJ adjusted the phrase to remove references to new immigrants.