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Taiwanese legislator Puma Shen, designated by China as "wanted" for allegedly advocating Taiwan's independence, spoke at a Berlin parliamentary committee hearing on Wednesday, sharing his initiatives to counter disinformation, according to a report from Central News Agency (CNA).
Shen was among six specialists invited to a session of the Bundestag's Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid. The session focused on "Disinformation by Autocratic States Aiming to Undermine Democracy and Threaten Human Rights," as detailed on the German federal parliament's lower house website. Following the session, Shen said he was asked to address the committee as both a Taiwanese legislator and a specialist in fighting disinformation. In his speech, he discussed the impact of China's disinformation efforts on Europe and Taiwan, as well as how Russia and Hungary have been disseminating misinformation throughout Europe. Shen expressed satisfaction at Europe's increasing recognition of disinformation and cognitive warfare but voiced disappointment that some individuals in Taiwan do not share these concerns, according to CNA. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party, Shen previously served as an associate professor at National Taipei University, focusing on areas such as white-collar crime, disinformation initiatives and financial crime. He has been classified as "wanted" by China and is under investigation by the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau for alleged "secession-related" crimes in Taiwan, including the establishment of a civil defence organisation known as Kuma Academy, as reported last month by China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, as noted by CNA. The inquiry is conducted under China's Criminal Law and its judicial guidelines established in 2024, which specify how to penalise "Taiwan independence separatists," the report indicated. Recently, a Chinese legal scholar claimed on state-run CCTV that Shen should be pursued via the International Criminal Police Organisation and other mutual judicial assistance agreements with other nations. The comments on CCTV have sparked public worry in Taiwan regarding the possibility of Shen being arrested and extradited to China if he travels abroad. On Tuesday, Shen stated in a Facebook video that he was not intimidated by China's threats "to hunt him down globally," according to the CNA report. "For a significant period, China has employed coercive methods to attempt to silence Taiwanese voices," he declared in the video filmed in front of the Bundestag building. "Yet, here I stand before the Bundestag and will be addressing a hearing as a Taiwanese legislator." "As a courageous Taiwanese, I will never retreat in fear," he asserted. "I am here today to defend not just Taiwan's democracy but also global democracy and freedom." Taiwan and Germany are both democratic nations governed by the rule of law, Lin remarked during a radio interview. He also pointed out that extraditing someone from a foreign nation to China is not as straightforward as Beijing suggests, as such an action would necessitate judicial cooperation and an extradition treaty with the host nation, according to the CNA report. (ANI)
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