Criminal Organizations as Vectors of Influence in Taiwan

Executive Summary:

• The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has increasingly co-opted Taiwanese organized crime groups—most notably the Bamboo Union—for its united front efforts, using them to promote unification with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and undermine Taiwan’s democratic institutions.
• Through figures like Chang An-lo and affiliated groups such as the Chinese Unification Promotion Party (CUPP), criminal networks are being leveraged for political influence, intelligence gathering, and psychological operations, often with tacit support or direction from PRC intelligence and propaganda arms.
• In response, Taiwanese authorities have intensified crackdowns on gang activity and pro-PRC influence networks, including efforts to dissolve CUPP and prosecute members linked to espionage, demonstrating a growing recognition of the hybrid threat posed by criminal-political collaboration.

In late August 2025, YouTube–based Taiwanese TV channel Formosa TV Thumbs Up (民視讚夯) posted a segment on “fifth column” activities in Taiwan. The program interviewed a range of experts, as well as Chang An-lo (張安樂), a man also known as “White Wolf” (白狼). Chang is a long-time member of the Bamboo Union (竹聯幫), a prominent Taiwan-based criminal organization. He is also the founder of the Chinese Unification Promotion Party (中華統一促進黨, CUPP), a Chinese nationalist political party with little public support but a claimed membership of around 30,000 people. The CUPP openly advocates peaceful reunification with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) under the “one country, two systems” (一国两制) framework (Facebook/CUPP, accessed June 7). In the interview, Chang denied he was part of any “fifth column” but, sitting in his office in front of the flag of the PRC, he argued in favor of “embracing” (擁抱) the PRC, saying that he wanted to “act as a bridge for cross-strait peace” (做兩岸和平的橋梁) (YouTube/民視讚夯 Formosa TV Thumbs Up, August 25).

For years, the CCP has incorporated Taiwan’s triads—Chinese secret societies that have evolved into resilient criminal enterprises—into its united front work, using them to mobilize grassroots support for unification. This complements broader efforts, including cultural outreach through social media influencers, intelligence-driven infiltration of Taiwan’s military, and leaning on Hongmen (洪门) (mutual aid associations from which triads historically emerged) to disseminate patriotic messaging aligned with CCP priorities (China Brief, January 13, May 9, June 7). Together, these activities aim to manufacture the appearance of widespread societal support within Taiwan for unification with the PRC. Although little research currently traces the links between the united front system and organizations such as the Bamboo Union, its role and influence in Taiwanese domestic politics makes it worthy of study to better understand the ties it has with the CCP.

Bamboo Union’s Connections to Taiwanese Politics

Allegations that link PRC united front organizations and Taiwanese criminal gangs have persisted for years. In 2017, former Taiwanese President Lee Teng Hui (李登輝) warned that the PRC had expanded its united front tactics by recruiting pro-unification supporters and sponsoring organized crime in Taiwan to stir ethnic tensions and destabilize society (Taipei Times, October 5, 2017). More recently, Taiwanese triads have sought to undermine President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and apply internal pressure on his administration in pursuit of a pro-unification agenda. Lai has publicly noted these efforts, citing recruitment from gangs in a list of CCP’s efforts “to divide, destroy, and subvert us from within” during a national security address in March (Office of the President of the Republic of China, Taiwan, March 13).

The Bamboo Union gang (竹聯幫), also referred to as the United Bamboo or Chuk Luen Bong, is perhaps the best example of a Taiwanese criminal gang that Beijing has coopted as part of the united front system. [1] Established in Taiwan in 1957, it was initially comprised of the children of Mainland Chinese refugees fleeing the communist takeover in 1949 (Taiwan Cultural Memory Bank, accessed September 4).

The organization has long maintained close connections to those in positions of political power. Its most notorious instance of collusion came in 1984, when the head of the Ministry of National Defense’s Intelligence Bureau, Vice Admiral Wang Hsi-ling (汪希苓), reportedly met with Bamboo Union leaders in Taipei, allegedly instructing them to assassinate a naturalized U.S. citizen named Henry Liu for criticizing the Kuomintang regime. The operation was carried out in California later that year (Taipei Times, February 22, 2021).

In the decades since, the Bamboo Union has developed relationships with other organized crime groups, including the Wah Ching (華青) in the United States, Yakuza groups in Japan, and several triad societies in Hong Kong. Today, it maintains a broad presence across Taiwan, with an estimated membership of at least 10,000 and an extensive criminal portfolio. In August 2025, Taipei prosecutors indicted 18 members of a criminal ring affiliated with the Bamboo Union for alleged financial fraud and cryptocurrency schemes affecting more than 200 people. According to the indictment, the scheme allegedly had made illegal profits of more than NTD 770 million ($25 million) in fraud schemes since May 2024 (Taipei Times, August 21).

The Bamboo Union’s ties to Taiwanese lawmakers today appear to remain strong. After the organization’s former leader Huang Shaocen (黃少岑) passed away in February 2025, a large funeral was organized. According to local reporting, the funeral committee comprised “well-known Taiwanese in politics, economics, and business” (都是國內知名政經、商界人士), including former Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and the Democratic Progressive Party’s current minority leader Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), among others (LTN, February 17). These connections were highlighted the following month, when the Bamboo Union attempted to meet at a restaurant within the Legislative Yuan complex in order to select a new leader. The Taipei police responded swiftly, with authorities arresting over 40 suspects from three factions of the gang, and on March 27, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) condemned the gang’s “inappropriate, public actions of domestic gangs,” and directed the National Police Agency to closely monitor the situation and take appropriate action against any illegality (Focus Taiwan, March 27; Yahoo/Taiwan News, March 28). One of the contender to succeed Huang as leader, Liu Zhennan (劉振南), is also well-connected, having been hired as deputy head of an advisory group (顧問團副團長for Hou You-ih’s (侯友宜) successful mayoral campaign for New Taipei City (Liberty Times, October 4, 2018; Yahoo/Sanlih News, February 4). (Hou was also the KMT’s presidential nominee in 2024.) [2]

Chang An-lo Ties Bamboo Union and CUPP to the CCP

The restaurant booking for Bamboo Union members was made by Chang An-lo, indicating his continued role as a power broker within both the gang and perhaps even political circles. Chang’s long history and ties to elites in both the PRC and Taiwan has made him an ideal vector of influence for the CCP. Allegedly involved in the Henry Liu assassination, he was convicted in 1985 of drug smuggling and served ten years in prison in the United States. After returning to Taiwan, he was forced in 1996 to flee after being placed on the authorities’ wanted list. Chang spent the next 17 years in Shenzhen, returning to Taiwan again in 2013 (The Sydney Morning Herald, July 12, 2014).

During his time in the PRC, Chang cultivated powerful friends. Writing in the Washington Post in 2000, John Pomfret described a dinner Chang hosted with Hu Shiying (胡石英), the son of Hu Qiaomu (胡乔木), the Party’s former propaganda chief and himself the son of the former dean of the Party School. Hu referred to his host as “Big Brother Chang” (The China Project/Washington Post, August 16, 2018). Hu Shiying is described in reporting over a decade later by John Garnaut as an old associate of Xi Jinping, who also had close ties with former KMT president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). In an interview with Garnaut, Chang claimed to have met other princelings, including sons of a former CCP general secretary and a top revolutionary general. He also discussed his friendships with officials in the Taiwan Affairs Office. Garnaut also notes that the PRC’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) had used the Bamboo Union to channel lucrative opportunities to select leaders of the DPP (The Sydney Morning Herald, July 11, 2014). In 2017, however, the Taiwanese minister of the interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) stated that such manipulation would not be tolerated following intelligence reports that aligned with Chang’s account, finding that the Xiamen branch of the Taiwan Affairs Office was engaging with Taiwanese organized crime groups (Taipei Times, September 30, 2017).

Chang’s acceptance among CCP elites is likely related to his espousal of the Party’s views on the political status of Taiwan, which have also been reflected in the stance of prominent Bamboo Union members for decades. A Phoenix TV (鳳凰衛視) report from May 2011 that interviewed Chang recalls a former Bamboo Union leader (and a lifelong friend of Chang’s) saying in 1981 that he would “rather the CCP rule Taiwan than have Taiwan taken away by Taiwan independents” (我寧願共產黨統治，也不要台灣被台獨拿走) (YouTube/huxudaji, September 1, 2011). Chang himself has actively promoted unification for at least 20 years. In September 2005, he created a civil organization in Guangzhou called the “Defending China Alliance” (保衛中華大同盟). This organization later moved to Taipei, rebranding as the CUPP—Taiwan’s first party to openly support unification under the “one country, two systems” framework. As Chang has discussed in interviews, part of his goal in returning to Taiwan was to “cultivate red voters” (培養紅色選民) who describe themselves as Chinese (Liberty Times, April 2, 2014; RFA, February 2, 2021). Chang’s activism has included disrupting protests—sometimes violently—as well as engaging in protests of his own, such as during U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in 2021 (163, August 28).

CUPP may present itself as a political party, but its personnel has overlapped substantially with the Bamboo Union. Beyond Chang himself, prominent Bamboo Union figure Li Tsung-kuei (李宗奎) is a former CUPP vice chairman who has been active on pro-unification issues, though he now claims to be apolitical (163, February 5; Mirror Media, March 25). Earlier this year, reporting noted that Li had helped Terry Gou (郭台銘) collect signatures for his failed presidential campaign, for which he was given a suspended sentence and a substantial fine (Yahoo News; UDN, April 28). Li is also closely associated with Hongmen organizations, which are also vectors for CCP influence in Taiwan and elsewhere (China Brief, June 7).

Taiwan Responds With Crackdown on Organized Crime and Influence Activities

In recent years, authorities in Taiwan have tried increasingly to crack down on criminal and subversive activities, including by targeting the Bamboo Union and CUPP. In November 2024, the Ministry of Justice announced that police suspected 134 CUPP members of involvement in illegal activities, including obstruction of justice, human trafficking, and homicide. That same month, prosecutors charged two CUPP members with receiving New Taiwan Dollar (NTD) 74 million ($2.3 million) from the CCP to make propaganda promoting Beijing’s political agenda and to influence elections in Taiwan (Taipei Times, November 6, 2024). In March, following the attempting meeting in the Legislative Yuan, the Taipei Police issued a statement explaining that the National Police Agency had instructed units to investigate and prosecute Bamboo Union and other gang members who using criminal organizations as a front for political parties (Yahoo/Taiwan News, March 28).

In response to ongoing pro-PRC political influence campaigns, Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior moved in January this year to dissolve the CUPP, submitting the case to the Constitutional Court of the Judicial Yuan for a final decision. The Ministry reported that the CUPP has long engaged in systematic and organized crimes， with core members alleged to have repeatedly violated multiple laws (Ministry of the Interior, January 2; Taipei Times, January 4).

Authorities also have identified clear links between the CUPP and MSS officers. In March, the Kaohsiung branch of Taiwan’s High Court sentenced three CUPP-affiliated men for violating the National Security Act. CUPP deputy secretary-general Wen Lung (溫瓏), along with retired military officers Chiang Chiung-lin (江瓊麟) and Chu Hsin-yu (朱新瑜) were convicted of recruiting Taiwanese military personnel to agents of the PRC. Wen Lung, who started a business in the PRC in 2016, was recruited by PRC intelligence officers and later enlisted Chiang, a former Taiwanese air force officer, and Chu, a former Taiwanese naval officer, to join the CUPP and assist future recruitment. The covert operation was uncovered in 2019 when Chiang attempted to recruit a Taiwanese air force officer with offers of professional advancement and financial rewards. The officer reported the approach, leading to an investigation. All three individuals admitted to their roles and acknowledged meetings with PRC intelligence and united front officials (Taipei Times, March 28). Although no direct links were found between the former military officers and the Bamboo Union, Chang An-lo was identified as the intermediary who introduced Wen to the chief clerk of the Zhuhai Municipal Taiwan Affairs Office, who in turn connected Wen with a military officer of the Political Department Liaison Bureau (Liberty Times, March 28).

Conclusion

The activities of the Bamboo Union in conjunction with the CUPP are intended to subvert the authority of the Taiwanese government. The CCP’s use of triad gangs such as the Bamboo Union is a core component of its united front strategy, which is designed to sow internal divisions and erode public trust in state institutions. As President Lai noted in his March speech, these efforts seek to “create the illusion that China is governing Taiwan” (Office of the President, March 13).

The continued existence and financial success of triad gangs such as the Bamboo Union remains a thorn to civil society in Taiwan. If left unchecked, these groups will continue to erode the authority of the democratically elected government. Internationally, such gangs benefit from the tacit support of PRC united front and intelligence agencies, which overlook their criminal activities in exchange for advancing pro-unification messaging. However, while public  intelligence disclosures and criminal cases implicate certain gang members, there is little evidence to suggest that Taiwan’s criminal networks constitute a coordinated “fifth column” prepared to assist a PRC takeover. Rather, their involvement reflects the CCP’s broad united front strategy, which seeks to co-opt actors across all sectors of society.

Notes

[1] While the Bamboo Union remains the most prominent gang supporting unification and participating in united front activities, others such as the Four Seas gang have also been implicated. In 2017, members of the Four Seas gang were reportedly involved in the assault of Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong and three others—Edward Yiu, Nathan Law and Eddie Chu—upon their arrival at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on January 7. The activists were confronted and attacked by around a 100 people associated with the pro-China Patriot Association.

Leading the attack on Joshua Wong and his Hong Kong associates was Chang Wei (張瑋), son of Chang An-lo. The Taipei police also identified Chen Tzu-chun (陳子俊), a known chapter leader of the Four Seas Gang, as a participant. While Chen was detained, Chang Wei was released and quickly left Taiwan—reportedly relocating to Mexico, where he is believed to run a company (Taipei Times, January 15, 2017).

In 2024, Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) in coordination with a multi-agency task force arrested 12 members of the Celestial Alliance (天道盟), also known as the Tiandao League. The gang, reportedly founded in 1986 inside the Taipei Detention Center by inmates seeking to counter the dominance of Bamboo Union members, was found to be engaged in intelligence work for the PRC. The investigation in 2024 revealed that members had recruited Taiwan military personnel to sell sensitive information. One female member, who owned a temple used for cross-strait religious exchanges, leveraged her travel to the PRC to facilitate espionage. She recruited financially vulnerable military personnel, coercing them into filming pro-PRC videos in front of the PRC flag (CIB, October 24, 2024; China Brief, May 9).

[2] Subsequent reporting suggested that Liu was no longer in the running MSN, March 20).