Five Jailed for Helping China Meddle in Taiwan’s Presidential Election

By Kathleen Li
23 January 2022

Five Taiwanese businesspeople working in China were found guilty of taking money from Chinese authorities to buy votes for a pro-Beijing candidate in Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election.

On Jan. 17, the Taipei District Court indicted five businesspeople on charges of using Chinese government money to encourage Taiwan nationals living abroad to return home and vote for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Han Kuo-yu during his presidential bid in January 2020.

KMT is the largest opposition party in Taiwan, known for its China-friendly stance. However, despite Beijing’s efforts to meddle in Taiwan’s democratic election, Han lost his bid to unseat President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) by a wide margin.

Among those found guilty, Lin Huai, chairman of a Taiwanese business association in Changsha, the capital city of China’s Hunan Province, received a 46-month prison sentence and was deprived of his civic rights for four years for breaching the election and recall laws, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) citing the court’s ruling.

Four others received 20-month prison terms and deprivation of civic rights for two years.

The other four convicted were China New Family Association chairwoman Chiang Ming-sia, Hunan Shaoyang City Association in Taiwan director Chang Kuo-chun, Hengyang-based businessman Chuang Huan-chang, and Chinese Women’s Federation deputy secretary Shen Bin. They had conducted business in China’s Hunan Province, according to the Taipei Times.

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