Beijing ‘spy’ death threat claims shake up Taiwan’s election campaign as race enters final days

Reports that self-professed agent Wang Liqiang was threatened to retract allegations of interference in the island roil political parties

Reading Time:3 minutes

According to Australian media reports, Wang Liqiang received threats to retract earlier claims of Beijing-directed political interference in Taiwan. Photo: Handout

Published: 10:57pm, 9 Jan 2020Updated: 8:13pm, 17 Feb 2020

With just two days until Taiwan’s presidential election, the island has been roiled by reports that a self-professed mainland Chinese spy seeking asylum in Australia received death threats to retract his claims of Beijing-directed political interference in Taiwan.

On Thursday, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and the ruling independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) sought to use the claims and counterclaims to gain political mileage in what has been a fiercely contested race between the DPP’s Tsai Ing-wen, who is seeking a second term, and her main challenger, populist Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu.

Voting will take place on Saturday and also include legislative elections.

Self-professed spy William Wang Liqiang made headlines in November when he told Australian news outlets, including The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, that he had worked on behalf of a Beijing-directed foreign interference ring targeting independence and democracy movements in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Wang was back in the news this week when The Age reported that he was threatened with being sent back to the mainland and killed unless he publicly retracted his claims.

According to The Age, Wang, who fled to Australia in May and is seeking political asylum, was told in a series of messages that his family would be spared punishment and the debts he had incurred on the mainland would be repaid in return for a retraction.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x