How far inside the Trump White House did Taiwan Civil Government get?

Julian Lin and Kellyanne Conway, Vice President Mike Pence hugs TCG delegate, Kellyanne Conway with two TCG junketeers, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross was to meet with group (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)

Inside Taiwan’s Purgatory

Roger Lin and others of Taiwan Civil Government are accused of operating an international crime ring that defrauds its own members. Allegedly members donate money because they believe the group has inside connections with the United States government. TCG photo albums reveal that the group just might be on an inside track at the White House under Donald Trump. Although Trump has not made any midnight tweets about TCG yet, group delegations from Taiwan have made contact with presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway, Vice-President Mike Pence, and almost had a private reception with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Although photos of Julian Lin, accused of fraud, and Conway have surfaced before, the president’s former campaign manager had not been pictured with other members of a TCG delegation. Posing with junketeers at a POLITICO event in 2017, Conway likely got an earful about the TCG goal of expelling the ROC from Taiwan. This new photo of Conway turned up taped to a wall at the Taipei State TCG office.

Junketeers also listened to Vice President Mike Pence in 2017 at a luncheon, sponsored by TCG, but photos of Pence with the group were unknown. However, stills from a cellphone video clip now picture Pence pumping hands and hugging one TCG delegate. Pence is seen departing the stage and making a bee line for the TCG sponsor table. As Pence shakes hands he is introduced to the group by one of the junketeers to which Pence can be heard saying, “Very good.” Pence shook hands, posed for a thumbs up picture and then gave a female delegate a big hug.

While Pence’s luncheon handshakes may have been little more than a photo op they do suggest an awareness of TCG as it was no accident Pence headed to the sponsor table.

That Conway posed for a couple of pictures at a media event and Pence shook a few hands departing a speech doesn’t prove much, except that TCG members were there. More is needed than snapshots to prove an inside connection.

On May 23, 2018, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was scheduled to meet with a TCG delegation at the Heritage Foundation. The private reception was only nixed as Ross was enroute to the event, presumably tipped off at the last minute about the May 10 fraud arrests in Taiwan of TCG leaders. A spokesman for the Heritage Foundation said TCG was a “good partner” to work with.

The Ross meeting, even though it was abruptly canceled, is the proof that the photo shoots with Conway and Pence were more than just a happy chance. TCG lobbying and public relations spending hit paydirt in the Trump Administration. Where would the Ross meeting have led? The ROC arrests in Taiwan put the brakes on TCG inroads with the White House, raising serious questions about the timing and purpose of the raids and fraud allegations, including the pre-trial jailing of group leaders.

Alleged scam victims deny prosecution allegations they were hoodwinked in Taiwan Civil Government case

Seven alleged victims of false claims about their TCG identification cards pose with fact-finding team                 (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)

The seven men who gave us a tour of historical Tainan all had something in common besides their trademark black suits. All seven men are listed in a criminal complaint as fraud victims. Six of the seven were interrogated while the seventh was listed by prosecutors as a victim without even talking to police.

The seven alleged crime victims are all members of Taiwan Civil Government, an advocacy group that seeks to expel the exiled Republic of China from Taiwan. The men were supposedly duped by group leader Roger Lin with false claims about the benefits of their TCG identification cards. The men all scoff at such a notion and declare they are in a battle for the future of Taiwan and the fraud charge against group leaders is actually an attack on the organization.

Each of the seven men denied being victims or giving statements to interrogators that could be construed as victim statements. They remain loyal to the group and continue to donate money to the cause.

The “victims” took us on a tour of the Tainan TCG office where a language class was being held. How prosecutors Chu Li-hau, Hung Rui-shen, and Lin Sou-ye can tell the judge that the seven men were victims is a big question on the minds of the men. Under ROC criminal procedure the men can be named as victims without being called as witnesses so they likely will not get a chance to tell the court how prosecutors have made false representations about their statements to interrogators.

During a two-week tour of Taiwan and visits to TCG offices, the fact-finding team met and interviewed nearly two dozen purported victims who all tell the same story that the prosecution has falsely portrayed them to the court as victims. According to a TCG spokesperson, 170 alleged victims have made written submissions that their names were falsely presented in the criminal complaint.

Since the Republic of China in-exile lacks juries, it is critical what information is provided to the judge. A flawed justice system that rejects a jury trial for defendants, prosecutors who use fabricated victims, and a judge who has already imposed nearly five months of incommunicado pre-trial detention are a formula for a wrongful conviction. The political overtones of the case are obvious, yet the news media, in both Taiwan and the United States, ignore the larger implications of a seeming return to injustices of the White Terror era of ROC history.

President Tsai Ing-wen is a champion of the status quo, a keeper of the strategic ambiguity for Taiwan. However, while Tsai’s public image remains frozen, the actions taken under her administration against the Taiwan Civil Government leaders breach the status quo and turn back the clock on the ROC to its bad old days of imprisonment for political views.

Up next, did Taiwan Civil Government get to Donald Trump?

Donors to Taiwan Civil Government treated like suspects but listed as victims in fraudulent complaint by ROC prosecutors

William Tseng, Michael Richardson, and Josephine Tseng (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)

Inside Taiwan’s Purgatory

Meet William and Josephine Tseng, two “victims” of a purported international fraud ring. The only problem is that the Tsengs are not victims of anything. The Tsengs cooperated with my fact-finding mission to Taiwan and tell a story vastly different from that told to the judge by prosecutors. The prosecution of Roger and Julian Lin and Tsai Tsai-yuan for fraud against members of Taiwan Civil Government has all the earmarks of a political prosecution.

The ten year-old organization boasts 70,000 members, although prosecutors think about only half that number have joined. TCG seeks to expel the exiled Republic of China from Taiwan with United States help. As the group reached out to Donald Trump it moved from minor irritant to possible threat to the established order. A surprise raid in May 2018 led the ROC to bring fraud charges against TCG leadership in what appears to be an attempt to throttle the group.

“How can they do this?” asked William Tseng while shaking his head in disbelief. “How can they call me a victim? I am no victim although they have treated me like a suspect.”

Tseng, an international trader, and Josephine, a retired doctor, are financially secure and have been generous donors to TCG. William is actually a titleholder in the advocacy group and serves as the. group’s Minister of the Department of Energy in its shadow government.

The husband and wife are frequent junketeers and both have been part of many TCG delegations. The couple has travelled to the United States, Switzerland, and Japan to represent the organization on

repeated trips. Josephine introduced Vice President Mike Pence to a TCG delegation at a 2017 Washington luncheon sponsored by Taiwan Civil Government.

The Tsengs got a taste of the ROC justice system on the morning of the raid that arrested Roger and Julian Lin. William tells the story.

“They showed up at our gate at 8 a.m. in the morning. A dozen police wanted to search our home. They had no warrant and we had done nothing wrong so I refused them entry. They later came back four more times with subpoenas. Josephine and I were interrogated four times, separately, like we were some kind of criminals. It was pure harassment.”

“They didn’t really ask much about money since they had records of our donations, they wanted to know all about our trips overseas. They had all the dates, with information from our passports. They wanted to know who we met with and the purpose of our trips.”

“When the complaint was finally released I was astounded to find both our names listed as victims for the amounts we had voluntarily and willingly donated. How can they say we are victims?”

“We believe that Taiwan Civil Government offers the best hope for ridding Taiwan of the ROC regime. That is why we donate our money and time. We want a Taiwan that is free from the Republic of China. Is that a crime?”

“I don’t know who these prosecutors are, they haven’t spoken to me. If they had, I would have been sure to tell them I am not a victim. We are supporters of TCG, not victims. The only fraud I know about is that committed by the prosecution for falsehoods about us. How can they get away with this?”

Up next, more non-victims complain about prosecutors

Alleged victim of fraud says ROC prosecutors are making false statements in court and wants chance to testify

Huang Chin-tong denies prosecution claims he is a fraud victim and swears in affidavit that he never told interrogators he was a victim (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)

Inside Taiwan’s Purgatory

Huang Chin-tong is mad at Republic of China prosecutors for calling him a fraud victim. Huang is so upset his name has been used in a criminal complaint against leaders of Taiwan Civil Government that he prepared his own affidavit refuting prosecution claims. TCG founder Roger Lin and others are accused of deceiving group members with false claims about an identification card. Huang, who volunteers his time at the Taipei State office of TCG and regularly marches in parades against the exiled ROC, says he was not deceived at all.

“I was questioned by the interrogator on May 28. He wanted me to complain against Roger Lin but I told him that all my dedications were of my own willingness.”

“When they were finished questioning me the interrogator wanted me to sign a statement. I found some of the contents were twisted and I refused. I requested he retype it or I would not sign. Even though I told the interrogator I would not complain the ROC prosecutors ignored my comment and against my will stated I was a victim without my consent. This is a forgery of my name. Therefore, I wrote my own non-victim statement.”

“I have had experience with the ROC legal system before. In 2014, I legally rented a big billboard in Taipei to promote TCG. After the billboard was up for a short period of time the Public Works Department took it down covertly during the night time. I then sued Public Works and after six months the case went to trial, but I was threatened by the judge. He told me that he knew my address and how many people in my family to force me to drop the case.”

“It is obvious there is no real justice, no real human rights, no real democracy in Taiwan. I really appreciate being able to tell the world my story. I have not been coerced and these statements are of my own free will.”

Although Huang seems to wear a perpetual smile, he is not amused his name was used by prosecutors as a victim and quickly volunteered to tell his story. Bullied by a ROC judge in 2014, Huang is not giving in this time and wants a day in court to tell the truth and set the record straight.

Up next, donors treated like suspects named as victims

Purported victims say over-zealous prosecutors made false statements about them in Taiwan Civil Government fraud case

Chiu Hui-lin and Chen Teng-Hsien are both outraged at the use of their names as victims in the prosecution of Taiwan Civil Government leaders (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)

Inside Taiwan’s Purgatory

Two Kaohsiung officers of Taiwan Civil Government want their stories told and their identities used. They are unhappy that their names were misused by prosecutors listing them as fraud victims. Chui Hui-lin is proud of her role in TCG and resents being called a victim by prosecutors in an attempt to convict leaders of the group. Chui described her interrogation conducted on May 31.

“In the morning, I reported to the guard room, and then I was led by investigator Mr. Hsieh to enter the room. On the way, he said “TCG is a fraud group. Why are you so stupid to participate?” I immediately responded “How can a fraud group sue the ROC in the US?”

Asked how much she had paid to TCG, Chui replied she had voluntarily donated around 50,000 NTD however, the criminal complaint which falsely named her a victim said she had paid more than 300,000 NTD. “I stated all my dedications to TCG were done of my own willingness and that I was not a victim.”

Chui says the interrogation demoralized her and the fraud arrests of Roger and Julian Lin have estranged her from her family who believe false news stories about TCG. “I was blamed by my family. They said that they told me not to participate in TCG, but I didn’t listen. Now I was finally in trouble. If I was to continue to be obsessed with TCG, I should leave the family. At the same time, I also had to bear with the humiliation from relatives. The situation cannot be described in words.”

With inner courage Chui stepped forward. “I sincerely accept this interview so that I can finally be able to speak out about the misunderstanding by others since my attending TCG for all these years. I hope the top US officials understand the current situation of TCG to achieve the goal of normalization of Taiwan’s international status as quickly as possible. Let Taiwanese people break away from political purgatory to have humble human rights.”

Chen Teng-Hsien is likewise upset and detailed his interrogation session on May 30.

“I was called in by the Kaohsiung office of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. My interrogator’s name was Zheng and he asked if I wanted to report the TCG as a fraud group. I told him no, that I was satisfied with the progress TCG was making and accused him of stigmatizing the group.”

“The interrogator was recording the interview so I asked if I could also. He said no because the investigation was confidential by law. I asked, “If the investigation is strictly confidential not made in public, why is at 10:00 am, May 10th, when the important cadre of all locations were still being interviewed, newspapers and TV medias already broadly publicized and reported about TCG swindles and money laundering? You maximized to stigmatize TCG as much as you could without a trial.”

Zheng was rendered momentarily speechless by Chen’s complaint. When he regained his composure Zheng told Chen that the ROC had asked the American Institute on Taiwan about TCG and was told it was not a unit of the American government. Chen replied that the ROC’s real name was the Taipei Economic and Cultural Affairs Office and how did Zheng expect the ROC to get a straight answer as the United States does not recognize the ROC.

The interrogator then told Chen the ROC equaled Taiwan to which Chen asked how does the ROC represent Taiwan. Chen got no answer.

“During the questioning, he asked me how much I gave to the Taiwan Civil Government. I said that I had forgot how much I have given but everything I have done has been done voluntarily. Everything Roger Lin has done has been progress. If there is a scam, no need to remind me, I will report it. Yet the criminal complaint listed me as a complaining victim.”

“Why does the Bureau of Investigation have my name on the list of victims?

“Because of 73 years of brainwashing by the ROC and unfavorable media reports, Taiwan Civil Government has a negative impression in the minds of the people of Taiwan. I hope high-level officials of the US can truly understand and value the wishes of the Taiwanese and assist to us to achieve the normalization of Taiwan’s international status at an early date.”

“Only in this way, we will be able to break free from the Chinese military threat of unification and hold back the arrogance of unification parties in Taiwan.”

Fraud victims? Not this pair. Chiu Hui-lin and Chen Teng-Hsien both say there was nothing said by them to their interrogators that could possibly have been misconstrued as a victim statement. They both insist their names have been fraudulently offered to the court by the prosecution. The two dare prosecutors to call them as witnesses.

Up next, one non-victim submitted his own affidavit against prosecutors

 

Cameroon political prisoner Michele Ndoki accuses military court of violating procedure and bail laws to illegally detain her

Cameroon attorney Michele Ndoki who survived an assassination attempt in January and is now imprisoned without bail led a legal challenge to despot Paul Biya after 2018 elections (credit: TV screenshot)

Attorney Michele Ndoki, shot three times by police during a parade in Douala in January, was arrested on Feb. 27 while in hiding for her life and has been imprisoned almost two months in troubled Cameroon. Ndoki, one of Cameroon’s leading attorneys, is a vice-president in the Cameroon Renaissance Movement and litigated charges of election fraud in the recent presidential election.

Ndoki is the lawyer for imprisoned Maurice Kamto who opposed Biya in a controversial October 2018 election. The January march when Ndoki was targeted by police called for an honest election. Kamto has charged the election outcome was rigged and Ndoki has been litigating the issue. Kamto and 150 other supporters, including Ndoki, now face execution for alleged treason.

Cameroon, long restive under the harsh rule of Biya since 1982, is fighting a civil war with Ambazonia, a newly declared independent country formerly called British Southern Cameroons during its colonial era. The ongoing bloodshed in Ambazonia is a terror campaign waged by American trained anti-terrorist squads. The United States has suspended military aid to Cameroon because of human rights violations and has called for the release of Kamto and his supporters.

Tchakounte Patie, president of the Cameroon Bar Association, has demanded the release of Ndoki following a meeting of the Bar that condemned her arrest. The legal group appointed three barristers, Onana Désiré, Mang Mayi and Ashu Egbe to defend Ndoki who is being held without bail.

Ndoki’s case has been transferred to military court to give Biya more control over the outcome. When Ndoki was finally brought to court from Kondengui Prison where she is being held she denounced the judge for proceeding without her detention order to review. The judge abruptly canceled the bail hearing and returned Ndoki to confinement. Ndoki is scheduled to return to court in a week when the judge will have the detention order to examine.

Amnesty International has criticized the sedition charges and called for release of the imprisoned political leaders and activists.

Three angry women say prosecutors committed a fraud against the court by naming them as victims in Taiwan Civil Government case

Lina Ka, Tseng Yu-chen, and Li Tai-chia are listed as victims in the complaint against leaders of Taiwan Civil Government yet all three women deny being victims (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)

Inside Taiwan’s Purgatory

Three angry women want their day in court. The trio are named as victims of Roger and Julian Lin in the political fraud case against the leaders of Taiwan Civil Government. All three women were hauled in for interrogations after the May 10 arrests of the Lins and Tsai Tsai-yuan, the second-in-command of TCG. The women were each interrogated twice and urged to complain against those arrested.

The three women are caught in the middle of a court battle against the leadership of TCG. The decade-old advocacy group seeks to expel the exiled Republic of China from Taiwan with United States help. Progress in Washington was abruptly stalled in May 2018 when the ROC raided TCG headquarters and charged the leaders with political fraud.

Lina Ka says the interrogators tried to confuse her and twist her statements with their threatening demeanor. Ka says the interrogators told her she was stupid for donating to TCG and that things would go easier for her if she cooperated with the prosecution. Her inquisitors implied she had done something bad. However, Ka would not give in to the intimidation and continued to assert she had voluntarily donated to TCG and continues to wear the group uniform proudly. When Ka later saw her name listed as a victim of the purported scam she became very angry.

“I paid 6,000 NTD for three days of Taiwan jurisprudence courses which included two-night accommodation and five meals., lecture fees and materials. The charges are reasonable.”

“Everything I have donated has been voluntary, no fraud, no money laundering. I have not been defrauded, I have not been laundered, I will not complain. The criminal complaint is inconsistent with the facts.”

Tseng Yu-chen was also interrogated twice and listed as a victim in the prosecution complaint against the Lins. Tseng is angry that her name was misused by the prosecutors. Tseng says the interrogators were rude and did not listen to what she had to say. Tseng denied ever calling herself a victim, says she has voluntarily made donations, and continues to work promoting TCG.

“I agree with the Taiwan Civil Government that Taiwan’s international status can be normalized and recognized internationally. That is why I participate.”

“I think it is very reasonable to attend class for three days and two nights including room and board, and I have no hard feeling of being deceived. Money I donated was given voluntarily, I was not threatened. I do not feel cheated.”

“The real can not be fake, the fake can not be real. I am not deceived and I’m not complaining. But it is very strange what the prosecution is doing. It is unbelievable public falsification of my testimony.”

Although Tseng is listed as a victim in the complaint she is not expecting a chance to tell the judge the truth. Tseng is not sure if the interrogators lied to the prosecutors about her or if the prosecutors were the liars, but she is sure that she made it absolutely clear that she was not in any way a victim of any kind.

Li Tai-chia was also interrogated, rudely, twice in an effort to turn her into a victim. Like the other two women, Li was emphatic that she was not a victim and had voluntarily donated money and would continue to do so. Wearing the trademark black suit and lapel pin, Li continues to support TCG. Li said she believes she was targeted for interrogation because five members of her family had donated to TCG. Li adds that none of her family members were victims of fraud either.

“I had indicated to the interrogators that I was very sure, very clear about my position. I did not want to complain about Roger Lin. However, incredibly, the complaint stated that because of “false claim of TCG” I fell into error and then paid money to TCG and I was listed as a victim. Openly falsifying my testimony.”

According to the three women, the only fraudulent conduct was by prosecutors Chu Li-Hau, Hung Rui-shen, and Lin Sou-ye who told the court the women were victims. Under the arcane court rules of the ROC, where defendants are denied a jury trial, the purported victims cannot even tell the judge the truth without first being called as witnesses by the prosecution, an event not likely to happen.

Fraud victims? Not Lina Ka, Tseng Yu-chen, and Li Tai-chia. Just ask them.

Up next, more alleged victims denounce prosecutors

Police surveillance of parades seeks to intimidate marchers from calling for expulsion of the Republic of China from Taiwan

Surveillance by Criminal Investigation Division of Michael Richardson watching Taiwan Civil Government parades (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)

Inside Taiwan’s purgatory

The Taiwan Civil Government advocacy organization does not like to be called a Taiwan independence group and those in the TI movement do not like to consider TCG as allies. However, TCG has taken its campaign against the exiled Republic of China to the streets in a way that few other groups have.

Two pictures of police surveillance of TCG parades, one taken in New Taipei City and the other in Kaohsiung, show that police want their presence behind cameras known by marchers. But what is the crime? The parades are lawful, orderly demonstrations, conducted with permits, and do not constitute criminal activity in any way.

At the New Taipei City parade, surveillance was conducted by uniformed members of the Criminal Investigation Division who did not try to hide their snooping. In Kaohsiung, the video harassment was more aggressive with undercover, plain-clothes police on motor scooters armed with cameras and radio. CID agents also filmed the parade from the sidelines and traffic officers doubled as video spies with cameras mounted on top of their helmets.

Although leaders of Taiwan Civil Government have been accused by ROC prosecutors of political fraud for allegedly making false claims about TCG membership cards it is hard to see how a lawful downtown parade should be the subject of such intrusive police activity. Don’t the CID agents have crimes to solve, instead of watching a parade?

Speaking as someone who was there, and being filmed by police, I am very clear that the purpose of the videos was not legitimate law enforcement. The purpose was intimidation and harassment. Already CID agents have built dossiers on hundreds of TCG members, with interrogation after interrogation, in an effort to break the group and attempt to coerce members into saying they were victims of some sort of scam. Many of the TCG activists who were singled out for harassment by interrogators march in the group parades. By filming, at close range, the police can identify individuals for further harassment as well as attempting to dissuade them from marching.

Taiwan Civil Government is a group that the ROC has not been able to break and the public demonstrations and marches seem to have spurred membership growth despite the oppressive tactics of the Criminal Investigation Division. TCG parades are frequently conducted around the island and keep police video crews busy. The heavy-handed police presence has alerted TCG members that the battle for Taiwan’s future is underway and that they are the foot-soldiers of a peaceful revolution against Chinese control of Taiwan. The paraders march in the heat, they march in the rain, and they march in front of the police cameras.

Up next, purported scam victims say prosecutors are lying about them

 

Prime Minister Tsai Tsai-yuan of Taiwan Civil Government is former political prisoner

Tsai Tsai-yuan, the Prime Minister of Taiwan Civil Government shows his name at the Green Island Human Rights Memorial and his picture at the National Human Rights Museum (credit: Michael Richardson/Taiwan Civil Government)

Roger Lin is well known as founder of Taiwan Civil Government. But who is Number Two? Meet Prime Minister Tsai Tsai-yuan. Although Tsai smiles with a twinkle in his eye when you call him Prime Minister it is clear that he means business about ridding Taiwan of the exiled Republic of China. Tsai is a revolutionary warrior of the first order.

A former political prisoner, Tsai suffered twelve years imprisonment at the notorious Green Island prison. Tsai also did another three years in a Taipei prison where he was kept shackled and handcuffed in his cell day and night for six months. Tsai’s crime was writing an essay in a political review journal.

Although Tsai is modest in telling of his years of sorrow, he is proud that his jailers never could break him. Tsai’s name and sentence dates are carved in stone at the Green Island Human Rights Memorial. Tsai’s picture is posted with other notable prisoners at the National Human Rights Museum.

Tsai is still at his life’s work, opposing the ROC. Tsai battles what he considers an occupation regime, as second in command at Taiwan Civil Government.

Tsai made the journey to Green Island to show his old cell, The cell, shared by fourteen men, was just large enough for all fourteen to lay down on the floor at once. There were no beds or eating utensils. Food was shoved through a hole in the door twice a day in large trays and the men would share the food as best they could.

Tsai kept track of conditions at the prison and with the help of another prisoner smuggled out three months of notes. The notes made their way to a professor in Switzerland who turned them over to the New York Times. The notes were traced to Tsai but he refused to say who helped him. Beaten and tortured (bamboo splinters under finger nails) Tsai would not betray a fellow inmate. Guards nicknamed him “Samurai” because of his willingness to die before betrayal.

Tsai has continued to write and speak and attend international conferences for human rights. When Tsai encountered TCG he realized his dream of finding a group willing to work full-time to free Taiwan. Now, as second in command, Tsai is fighting his final battle with the ROC. The Lins are being prosecuted under a new organized crime law that requires a minimum of three conspirators so Tsai was also arrested to bump up the sentences to a more serious level.

Suddenly, the man the ROC could not break at Green Island was once again in custody for his political activity. When prosecutors told Tsai his bail would be one million NTD he told them to lock him up. Faced with possible public sympathy for Tsai they lowered his bail to one fifth the original amount. Tsai considered refusing the lowered bond amount and remaining in jail as a protest. “At 4 am on the second day in jail I decided that TCG needed me outside to help steer the organization while Roger Lin was in jail so I accepted the reduced bail.”

Tsai is not afraid of ROC prosecutors and the allegations made against him of being an organized crime boss. Tsai says he has done nothing wrong and that there is nothing the ROC can do to him it has not already done.

Human rights advocate turned con man? Tsai Tsai-yuan is living proof that prosecutors have gone off-course. A man who endured torture to protect another inmate is not likely to cheat members of his own group with false claims about their identity cards.

Up next, political surveillance by ROC is intimidation by harassment

Taiwan Civil Government is not your average revolutionary group

Taiwan Civil Government holiday party shows the “work hard–play hard’ philosophy of the advocacy group (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)

Inside Taiwan’s Purgatory

Taiwan Civil Government, founded in 2008, is the most controversial, misunderstood, and maligned advocacy group operating in Taiwan these days. TCG is also perhaps the most successful Taiwanese pro-independence organization around that parades, files lawsuits, and hires publicity campaigns for the cause.

Founder Roger Lin is an enigmatic, charismatic leader that keeps tight control over what has been structured as a government in-waiting. Lin and others are facing political fraud charges for allegedly duping group members with false claims, particularly about the TCG identification card.

The noisy pro-American group has large portrait photographs of Donald Trump in each of its offices. Members wave the American flag like it was the Fourth of July. Those that speak English talk endlessly about the 1952 San Francisco Peace Treaty. However, make no mistake about it, these folks are revolutionaries. Fortunately, TCG seeks only a peaceful revolution…but a revolution it does seek. TCG wants to repel the exiled Republic of China from Taiwan.

Taiwan Civil Government is largely shunned by the Taiwan independence movement, ignored by the news media, and under surveillance by ROC police units. Common insults are that TCG is a cult, that it is crime ring, and that members are mentally deficient or politically naive. All such slurs and insults are false.

Roger Lin, beloved by TCG members, has a long list of shattered relationships with other like-minded activists. Invariably, they all split over money. The former friends have no doubt been the source of some, maybe many, of the rumors of alleged financial misdeeds. In turn, ROC prosecutors have grabbed at complaints from disgruntled TCG members and titleholders in an attempt to build a fraud case. Now Lin is billed as a criminal mastermind operating a sophisticated swindle. A clever way to sideline a growing political threat, the fraud allegations upset a cabinet-level meeting at the Heritage Foundation in Washington with a TCG delegation and put Roger Lin incommunicado for five months. The unfavorable publicity from allegedly being part of a scam operation also harmed the group’s credibility with the public.

In any event, Roger Lin says he is innocent and that he never took any money from anyone under misrepresentation. Lin demands that the prosecutors show the evidence and call its witnesses so he can refute them. With that posture, the presumption of innocence, the age-old standard of “innocent until proven guilty,”applies here.

The cult insults apparently arise from the group’s uniform of a black suit and a TCG lapel pin. The lock-step precision of TCG parades also gives a vision of a brainwashed cadre following Roger Lin’s marching orders. However, there is nothing cult-like about TCG. The group more closely resembles an ethnic social club with a political agenda. TCG believes and practices religious tolerance, respecting different belief systems of members.

When asked about the black suits, Julian Lin said it made it easy for everyone to know what to wear. The black suits also made it easiest for members to assemble the uniform as black was a common clothing color. The uniform the group members shared in common instilled an egalitarian view and allowed wealthy and poor to march together, shoulder to shoulder, for a shared vision of Taiwan’s future.

Are the members of Taiwan Civil Government politically naive or cognitively-impaired? Not smart enough to understand they have been hoodwinked? Clueless? Easy insults thrown out for a quick laugh do not succeed in slandering TCG loyalists. Members of the beleaguered group come from a wide spectrum of the population and arrive with political interests. Weekend courses on treaty language, history, and political science are held and are a requirement for membership. Dorm facilities at TCG headquarters sleep 500 persons. People who can discuss subtle details of international treaties are not generally viewed as mentally impaired.

The insults do not pan out. The prosecutors, as we will soon see, have built a case around false victim accounts. We will also learn about media manipulation by the prosecution and inflammatory news reports without follow-up.

The May 10, 2018, arrests of Roger and Julian Lin derailed TCG progress in the hallways of power in Washington. However, the arrests did not break TCG spirits. Instead, the group, locally structured in each state, was able to push forward with training and education. New recruits kept showing up despite the arrests. Roger Lin says the group “unified” by the arrests understood the battle for Taiwan was underway.

Despite the fraud allegations TCG marchers parade, show up in mass at every court session, and donate money to keep operations underway. TCG leaders are currently focused on the best way to influence the United States and Japan to end the strategic ambiguity and make some strategic moves for the future of Taiwan. Taiwan Civil Government is here to stay and is not going away.

Up next, meet the Prime Minister of Taiwan Civil Government