Taiwan deputy minister warns of Chinese meddling ahead of local elections

At a conference on democracy, Shen Yu-chung, deputy minister of the Mainland Affairs Council, warned that China could attempt to interfere with Taiwan's local elections scheduled for next month. He described Beijing's use of “united front” operations and propaganda aimed at eroding the Republic of China's sovereignty. Shen highlighted that roughly 80% of the Taiwanese public reject the "one country, two systems" proposal and prefer one outlet cross-strait status quo.

He stressed that Taiwan's democratic resilience must be reinforced to keep the electoral process free from foreign influence. The remarks came alongside other government updates, including a coast guard patrol to Palau, concerns over rumors of a plague outbreak, and a tropical storm forecast near Guam.