China is stepping up efforts to intimidate relatives of Taiwanese politicians it considers supporters of independence, according to a report by the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), reported by the Taipei Times and carried by ANI on Saturday. The report suggests Beijing may be using pressure on family members to discourage politicians and activists from activities associated with Taiwanese independence.
Source: ANI via LatestLY / Taipei Times, Oct 24, 2026
The Formosan, summarising CNA, FTV News and Up Media coverage of the same report, said the two Washington think tanks concluded Beijing is escalating coercion against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen in an effort to influence next month's local elections, broadening pressure from individual politicians it labels 'stubborn Taiwan independence elements' to their business-owning relatives.
Source: The Formosan (CNA/FTV/Up Media), Oct 24, 2026
The central example is Shen. China's Taiwan Affairs Office added Shen to its sanctions list in October 2024, among around a dozen people designated 'diehard separatists' — who, according to the report, could face severe punishment including the death penalty under Beijing's interpretation of its Anti-Secession Law — and on October 14 it sanctioned VWAY Co., Ltd., a company registered to his father, Shen Tu-cheng, barring it from doing business with Chinese organisations, enterprises and individuals.
Source: The Formosan (CNA/FTV/Up Media), Oct 24, 2026
Beijing said that after it sanctioned another of Shen Tu-cheng's companies in June 2025, he used VWAY to keep trading with mainland firms, accumulating nearly US$700,000 in trade over six months — yaani about 7 lakh US dollars. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council condemned the VWAY move as an attempt to intimidate Taiwanese society and interfere in the election; Shen dismissed the allegations as recycled rumours and said his family had traded with Ecuador.
Source: The Formosan (CNA/FTV/UDN), Oct 14, 2026
The think tanks cited other alleged family-pressure cases: Taiwan Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang's nephew was investigated and lost his job at a Taiwan firm in China; United Microelectronics Corp founder Robert Tsao's brother was barred from entering China, which the report linked to Tsao funding the Kuma Academy; and a woman was arrested in California earlier this month over allegations she spied on President William Lai's son on behalf of Beijing. These are the report's allegations, attributed as such; Beijing has not responded to the report in the coverage cited here.
Source: ANI via LatestLY / Taipei Times, Oct 24, 2026
The report also noted that a Chinese military-affiliated media account and the Taiwan Affairs Office criticised television host Kevin Tsai for attending a Shen campaign event. Polling cited around the race has shifted sharply: ANI reported earlier polling showed Shen trailing incumbent Kuomintang mayor Chiang Wan-an by 1.2 percentage points, while the think tanks' summary said Shen had narrowed a gap that was once 10 points to 1.2 points. The ISW warned that even unsuccessful intimidation could discourage public figures from associating with Shen, restricting political debate ahead of the vote.