"Taiwan independence" separatist Shen Pao-yang. Photo: screenshot of CCTV

An investigative report exposing "Taiwan independence" separatist Shen Pao-yang has been released on Sunday by Chinese state media China Central Television (CCTV), in which the Chongqing police said Shen has not only long advocated separatism but also, with the support of external forces, pushed forward a series of concrete "Taiwan independence" agendas. The Chongqing police has received a large number of public tips related to Shen during the investigation, according to the report. 

Shen, whose public identity is director of the National Taipei University's Graduate School of Criminology and a lawmaker with Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). He was put on the list of obstinate "Taiwan independence" separatists by the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council in October 2024 and was subjected to sanctions.

Shen has been vigorously promoting separatist "Taiwan independence" rhetoric by founding organizations such as the "Kuma Academy," serving as a willing accomplice to the DPP authorities in their provocations for "Taiwan independence." He has also maliciously spread "Taiwan independence" and anti-mainland sentiment among the public, particularly targeting young people, and has widely sown the seeds of potential violent confrontation across the Taiwan Straits, engaging openly in criminal activities aimed at splitting the country, an officer from the Chongqing Public Security Bureau was quoted as saying in CCTV report. 

He has not only long advocated separatism but also, with the support of external forces, pushed forward a series of concrete "Taiwan independence" agendas. Among his actions, the most widely known is the founding of the "Kuma Academy" in Taiwan in 2021, where he spread false claims that the Chinese mainland would "reunify Taiwan by force" at a certain time and pledged to train three million so-called "warriors" to "defend Taiwan" within three years, according to the media report. 

The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council has classified the academy as a "Taiwan independence base," describing it as an organization systematically cultivating violent separatists under the backing of the DPP authorities and external forces, per the CCTV report.

The Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau announced on October 28 that it has launched a criminal investigation into Shen. 

The investigation, based on China's Criminal Law and related judicial opinions on punishing "Taiwan independence" hardliners, aims to hold Shen criminally accountable for his separatist actions, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

When it comes to the investigation, the public security authorities are strictly following legal procedures in advancing the investigation. All the reports and a large number of tips received through the designated email and hotline are being verified one by one, and those confirmed to be genuine and valid will be used as evidence, the Chongqing Public Security Bureau said.

The case will be transferred to the procuratorate organ for review and prosecution in accordance with the law once the facts of the crime are clear and the evidence is solid and sufficient, the police officer said, according to CCTV News. 

According to local media in the island including ETtoday, another egregious act by Shen was his malicious attacks on the group of spouses of Taiwan residents from the mainland, falsely claiming that they were all "mainland spies." The CCTV report said his actions led to the persecution of several mothers from the mainland, who were forced to leave Taiwan and separated from their husbands and young children.

After targeting spouses of Taiwan residents from the mainland, he went after Taiwan businessmen. He claimed that since these businessmen make their money in the Chinese mainland, they would betray Taiwan, Chiu Yi, a political commentator in Taiwan, was quoted as saying in the report. 

"But his attacks on the businessmen were clearly less vicious than those on mainland spouses. Why? The reason is simple — businessmen seek profit, not confrontation. To keep the peace, many of them likely did some private PR work for him, maybe even gave him money. Quite a few Taiwan businessmen have donated to him — it's that simple," Chiu said. 

Ironically, however, Shen's own father, Shen Tu-cheng, is himself a Taiwan businessman operating on the mainland, the CCTV report revealed.

He serves as the head of Sicuens International Co, which is headquartered in Shenzhen and has long engaged in re-export trade of goods from the mainland, buying products cheaply in the mainland and reselling them at higher prices to places like Ecuador, earning substantial profits. Taiwan's media have repeatedly mocked Shen Pao-yang, pointing out that his family's business has reaped huge benefits from mainland policies designed to support Taiwan compatriots, while he turns around and stirs up "Taiwan independence" sentiment on the island, per CCTV. 

Shen Pao-yang's "rise to fame" experience has long been an open secret in Taiwan. Before studying in the US, he was just an obscure cram school teacher, the CCTV report said. Yet after returning, he was suddenly elevated by the DPP as a favored guest — and even became the top-ranked male candidate on its at-large legislator list.

In Taiwan, some observers have already noted that Shen has received funding from foreign forces, engaging in long-term interference in Taiwan's politics and attacking figures from other political parties. Public records show that a so-called "Taiwan independence" organization founded by Shen once received about $1.35 million in funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the media report said. 

Cheng Lei, a professor at the Law School of Renmin University, said that "based on the progress of the investigation and the evidence collected, once a wanted notice is issued, we can also pursue him through international channels such as Interpol and other related mechanisms, including red notices, to carry out a global manhunt ."