Taiwan Businessman to Sue Chinese Officials Who Sanctioned Him Over Political Views

Robert Tsao, the former chairman of contract microchip maker UMC, poses for photos at a news conference where he announces his plans to fund civil defense education, in Taipei, Taiwan, on Sept. 1, 2022. Ann Wang/Reuters

Taiwanese businessman Robert Tsao said on Nov. 11 that he will sue senior Chinese communist regime officials who sanctioned him over his political views on Taiwan.

Tsao is one of Taiwan’s richest men and the founder and former chairman of United Microelectronics Corp, one of the world’s leading chipmakers. Two years ago, the tech magnate made a $100 million private donation to the Taiwanese government, which he said was to boost morale in Taiwan amid the psychological warfare of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). A month later, he pledged a $33 million donation toward two civilian defense training programs in Taiwan.

The CCP’s China-Taiwan Affairs Office sanctioned Tsao and Taiwanese lawmaker Puma Shen in October for their ties to these training programs, stating that the two were seeking to “incite separatism.” Chinese officials banned Tsao and Shen from traveling to China, Hong Kong, and Macau, and barred their affiliated businesses from “seeking profit” in China.

In 2005, the CCP passed an “anti-secession law,” which it updated this year to authorize the death penalty for “diehard” proponents of Taiwanese independence. Although the CCP has never ruled Taiwan, which has a democratically elected government, the CCP claims the island nation as its own and generally takes the stance that it is authorized to enforce its own extraterritorial laws.

On Nov. 11, Tsao held a press conference announcing his lawsuit against the CCP’s Taiwan Affairs Office head, Song Tao, and spokesperson, Chen Binhua, for intimidation and endangerment of his personal safety.

One of Tsao’s lawyers, Cheng Wen-lung, acknowledged that the CCP officials do not visit Taiwan, and the court’s jurisdiction would not extend to China.

“Legally, we have to do this,” Cheng said. “Taiwan is in a difficult spot, but we have to work hard. You cannot not do anything.”

Tsao’s legal team added that they were considering bringing the case to a court in the United States under the Alien Tort Claims Act, which allows foreign citizens to file lawsuits in American courts, in order to raise more awareness of the issue.

Black Bear Academy

The CCP has stepped up military intimidation against Taiwan, regularly staging war games around the island, especially after Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te took office in May.

In 2022, Tsao renounced his Singaporean dual citizenship, saying at a press conference that he was now 100 percent a Taiwanese citizen. He told reporters that he had seen a change in Taiwanese attitudes toward CCP intimidation, and believed that many thought keeping their heads down would allow Taiwan to avoid conflict.

“Many Taiwanese become ostriches [when facing China],” he said. “They think China won’t launch a war if Taiwan doesn’t anger it.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) visited Taiwan in early August 2022, angering Beijing, which launched a wave of military drills targeting the island after her visit. Days later, Tsao condemned the CCP war games and made his $100 million donation to the Taiwanese government.

“$100 million is not much money to buy weapons,” he said at the time. “I hope it can awaken Taiwanese people from being greedy for money and fearful of death, and can fight to defend freedom, democracy, and human rights.”

He said the CCP was an entity that worships “totalitarianism, deceit, hatred, and violence,” and warned that submitting to the regime would not guarantee Taiwan’s peace.

“Look at the homicidal fierceness and haughtiness displayed before and after Pelosi’s Taiwan visit by China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, Taiwan Affairs Office, and Hu Xijin [journalist],” Tsao said. “China’s lies—including Taiwanese and Chinese are brothers and that Chinese won’t engage in combat with Taiwanese—can’t stand any test.”

A month later, in September 2022, Tsao donned a tactical vest and announced the $33 million donation toward two civilian defense programs, known as the Black Bear Academy. More than half of the funds went toward a program to train 3 million civilians over the next three years and the rest toward a program that would train 300,000 expert marksmen.

This October, the CCP launched another wave of live-fire military exercises around Taiwan, stating the drills were meant as a “stern warning” to would-be separatists. On the same day as the drills, Chinese officials sanctioned Tsao and other Taiwanese officials for “separatism.”

Reuters contributed to this report.