The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) has said that discount plane tickets to fly to Taiwan from China to vote in the November elections are not bribes. The SEF’s comment on Monday came after concerns that these discount tickets are bribes for the pan blue candidates.
The head of the Shanghai Taiwanese Business Association, Hector Yeh, has been urging businesspeople in Shanghai to fly back to Taiwan for the local elections at the end of November. Yeh promised that starting from the end of October, tickets from China to Taiwan will cost no more than 2,000 renminbi. That’s about 50% lower than the regular price. Some opposition lawmakers even believe the discount tickets are courtesy of the Chinese government.
But SEF Chairman Lin Join-sane said the tickets are not bribes. “Offering discount tickets is aimed to encourage businesspeople in China to come back and vote. But these discount tickets are not only for certain parties," Lin said. "The discount helps Taiwanese businessmen to return and exercise their right as citizens. When they come back, they can vote for whoever they want.”
Lin said Taiwan is a free society and the Taiwanese have the freedom to support whatever parties they want. He added the SEF will remain neutral and act in accordance with the law.