China Seeks to Influence Taiwan Elections With Incentives, Taiwan Security Chief Says

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te speaks next to National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen during a press conference, in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 25, 2024. Carlos Garcia Rawlins/ReutersTAIPEI, Taiwan—Beijing is seeking to influence Taiwan’s local elections later this year through newly announced incentives, Taiwan’s top intelligence official has said, a day after the island’s main opposition leader concluded her six-day trip to China.Tsai Ming-yen, director-general of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, made the comments at parliament on April 13 while answering reporters’ questions about China’s 10 new incentive measures for Taiwan announced on Sunday. Cheng Li-wen, the chairwoman of Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), had traveled to China at the invitation of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.