Taiwan's intelligence agency, the National Security Bureau (NSB), announced that it has identified and is managing approximately 100 cases related to China's interference in Taiwan's elections. According to Taiwanese media outlets such as the Liberty Times and China Times on the 23rd, Tsai Ming-yen, Director-General of the NSB, made the remarks during a media interview prior to attending a session of the Foreign and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan (Parliament) for the "Second Half of 2026 National Intelligence Operations and NSB Work Report" the previous day.

Director-General Tsai presented six methods used by China to interfere in Taiwan's elections: illegal funding, tourism hospitality, provision of discounted airline tickets, dissemination of false information, operation of underground gambling dens, and cyber infiltration.

He stated that he hopes to complete the collection of evidence and the transfer of these approximately 100 cases to prosecutors for indictment prior to the local elections on the 28th of next month. He also emphasized that China's transnational repression is intensifying. Moving past traditional methods such as tailing and violent threats, China is now employing methods that "disguise attacks as traffic accidents" to avoid violating Taiwanese laws, severely infringing upon the bottom line of Taiwan's democratic and legal society.

At the same time, he explained that the NSB is focusing on strengthening victim protection and severely punishing perpetrators in investigating these cases. While it is difficult to disclose the specific names on the identified list, most of Taiwan's local collaborative network consists of organized crime groups or detective agencies associated with them.

He further explained that since those currently arrested are all operational agents, the NSB is focusing on dismantling the criminal syndicates and their networks that receive instructions or financial support from China. Previously, the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office in Taiwan indicted five individuals on the 21st for attempted aggravated injury and violations of the Personal Information Protection Act, after they carried out a contract terror attack disguised as a traffic accident against a comedian who satirized Chinese President Xi Jinping. Shen Yu-chung, Deputy Minister of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the government agency handling mainland affairs, also stated the previous day that since Taiwan held its first direct presidential election in 1996, China's interference has shifted from "conspiracies" (hidden and mean tactics of the past) to "open plots" (blatant strategies disguised in the cloak of law). Attending a seminar on "China's Election Interference Methods and Taiwan's Democratic Defense" hosted by the Association for Asian Political and Economic and Peace Exchanges, he added that China has long pursued a "carrot and stick" strategy toward Taiwan.

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