Former Foreign Correspondent Describes Severe Vote-Buying in Hualien as Prosecutors Open Probe

A former Financial Times Taiwan correspondent’s account of cash allegedly being offered for votes in rural Hualien has prompted prosecutors to open an investigation.

J. Michael Cole, who has lived in Hualien for an extended period, said neighbours would identify who had visited and leave cash on a table while discussing how much each vote would be worth. He questioned why such practices could still be alleged after Taiwan’s democratisation.

Hualien prosecutors said they had opened a separate case based on the reports and were actively investigating vote-buying allegations. They warned all candidates not to break the law.

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All the votes there are bought.

The claims have drawn both concern and scepticism locally. Hualien County Councillor Hu Jen-shun said the county’s poor election culture was not new and urged investigators to make arrests rather than act only because a foreign resident had spoken publicly. Several Kuomintang representatives declined interviews, while some privately called Cole’s account exaggerated.

Official enforcement records show repeated action in Hualien. In 2018, investigators found vote-buying payments of up to NT$10,000 per person, while one-tenth of the national NT$500 million in whistleblower rewards that year was issued in Hualien. In 2022, prosecutors searched 72 locations, questioned 147 people and secured detention orders for seven. The Kuomintang’s Hualien branch was also fined NT$4.55 million in 2012, NT$3.15 million in 2016 and NT$850,000 last year under rules that can hold parties responsible for certain election offences by endorsed candidates.

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How many years has Taiwan been democratised?