Forefront Society (@majiajia_)

A Taiwanese TV anchor with hundreds of thousands of followers was secretly submitting his scripts to China for approval before broadcasting them. He was paid in cryptocurrency for every video. And he was using the same bank accounts to bribe military personnel into handing over Taiwan's missile deployment data. Lin Chen-you, known by his screen name "Ma De," worked as a political reporter and anchor at CTiTV, one of Taiwan's major cable news networks, and ran a YouTube channel with a substantial following. On May 6, 2026, Taiwanese prosecutors indicted him on three counts after a four-month investigation. They are seeking 12 years in prison. The charges are specific and documented. First: Lin produced anti-recall propaganda videos during Taiwan's Legislative Yuan recall campaigns while following instructions from an unidentified Chinese contact, submitting his scripts for pre-approval before broadcasting them on television and YouTube. He then sent back viewership statistics and traffic screenshots as proof of impact. He received 4,325 USDT in Tether cryptocurrency for this work, approximately NT$130,000. Second: Lin provided at least five of his personal bank accounts as a money channel, wiring funds to six active and retired military personnel from Taiwan's Army, Navy, Air Force, and missile units. The bribed soldiers were instructed to film pro-CCP "surrender videos" while holding PRC flags and to photograph and transmit classified military documents through messaging apps. The secrets allegedly handed over included drone and missile data, Han Kuang military exercise details, rocket system specifications, missile deployment locations, new missile parameters, and internal operation manuals. From 2023 to 2025, Lin received nearly 50,000 USDT from Chinese sources, totalling over NT$1 million in illegal gains, laundered through Binance and OKX. Third: prosecutors charged him with money laundering for layering the cryptocurrency payments through multiple exchanges to conceal their origin. The lead prosecutor described Lin as a tool for information warfare who handed content control of a mainstream Taiwanese news platform directly to foreign hostile forces, calling his crimes "heinous and unforgivable." The case will not receive a public trial because the evidence involves classified national security material. Lin told investigators he did not know the money came from Chinese forces. Prosecutors noted that he submitted scripts for Chinese approval before every broadcast and sent back viewership data after each one. The evidence includes bank records, crypto transaction logs, chat histories, and confessions from several of his military co-defendants. The CCP did not need to hack Taiwan's military. It found a news anchor who needed money and gave him a script. #Taiwan# #CCP# #China# #Espionage# #MediaEspionage# #NationalSecurity# #Disinformation# #CTiTV# #Geopolitics# #ChinaSpying#

“The divide between Zhang and Xi no longer centered on debate or planning and instead shifted to execution and direct noncompliance. This problem was clearly visible across the PLA, and it posed a serious threat to Xi’s authority.” Excellent analysis of the fall of Zhang from @KTristanTang