Taiwan Court Sentences Chinese Woman to 18 Months in Prison for Election Interference

TAIPEI, Taiwan—A Chinese woman was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Aug. 21 for following instructions from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to influence Taiwan’s elections.The district court in Ciaotou ruled that Zhou Man-zhi had violated the Anti-Infiltration Act during Taiwan’s 2024 general election cycle, according to a court press release.​​Zhou is a so-called “mainland spouse,” a term used to describe people born in China who immigrate to Taiwan after marrying Taiwanese citizens. She obtained Taiwanese citizenship in 2004.The ruling stated that Zhou previously belonged to two China-based groups—the Shaanxi Patriotic Volunteer Association and the China Patriotism Volunteer Association—that operated under the direction of the CCP’s United Front Work Department.In China, the United Front Work Department reports directly to the Central Committee, which is headed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping.The department coordinates thousands of groups to carry out foreign political influence operations, suppress dissident voices and activities, gather intelligence, and facilitate the transfer of technology to China.Ultimately, the CCP uses the “united front work” strategy to advance its economic, political, and security interests worldwide.Zhou continued to follow the “united front” directive after coming to Taiwan, establishing two so-called care associations for new immigrants.Through the associations, she continued, in her capacity as their chairperson, to promote activities with clear “united front” objectives, the court ruling said.Ahead of Taiwan’s 2024 general elections, Zhou campaigned for Zhan Xiuying, a fellow mainland spouse who was seeking a seat in Taiwan’s parliament, the Legislative Yuan, to represent a district in southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City.The court said Zhou sought to have Zhan win a legislative seat to expand her organizations’ reach and fulfill the “united front” mission assigned to her.Zhan, who ran as a candidate for Taiwan’s Labor Party, lost the election.According to data from Taiwan’s Central Election Commission, she finished last in a four-way race, receiving 2,876 votes, or 1.37 percent of the total.The court said Zhou’s action “seriously undermined” the integrity of Taiwan’s elections and “compromised the fairness and impartiality of voting.”After her arrest, the court said Zhou’s “continued denial of the offense and disregard for government laws had a serious negative impact on the fair operation of Taiwan’s electoral system and harmed the healthy development of its democracy.”The court dismissed three other charges against Zhou, including disseminating false election poll results.In a separate case, Zhou was sentenced to eight years in prison in January for violating Taiwan’s national security law by establishing organizations in Taiwan under the direction of the CCP.Zhou appealed the sentence, but Taiwan’s Supreme Court upheld it on July 22.In its ruling, the Supreme Court said that Zhou’s ultimate goal was to supplant Taiwan’s free and democratic constitutional framework with the CCP’s political system.On July 23, Liang Wen-chieh, deputy head and spokesperson of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, a government agency that handles cross-strait affairs, said during a regular briefing that Zhou’s Taiwanese citizenship will be revoked.Another mainland spouse was sentenced recently for similar offenses.On Aug. 11, the district court in New Taipei City sentenced Xu Chunying to seven years in prison for interfering in Taiwan’s elections under orders from the CCP.Xu was convicted in April of meddling in the 2022 Taipei mayoral race and the 2024 presidential election.