TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Xu Chunying (徐春鶯), a Chinese spouse and chair of the Taiwan New Immigrants Development Association, was indicted Tuesday for spying, election interference, and financial crimes.
Prosecutors said Xu moved to Taiwan in 1998 and developed close ties with Chung Chin-ming (鍾錦明), head of a cross-strait marriage promotion association, per CNA. The two are accused of traveling to China under the pretext of assisting Chinese spouses, where they reportedly built connections with CCP-linked officials.
These ties included Yang Wentao, director of the Service Center for Cross-Strait Marriages and Families under China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs, and Sun Xian, deputy head of the Shanghai branch of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang. Xu allegedly provided them with information on Taiwan’s politics and elections.
According to the indictment, Xu grew dissatisfied with the KMT for not shortening the residency period required for Chinese spouses to obtain citizenship and for not placing them on the at-large legislator list. She subsequently shifted support to other political parties.
Prosecutors said that in 2022, Xu informed Yang that Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊) was running as an independent in the Taipei mayoral election, to which Yang replied, “She supports us, so we support her.”
Xu allegedly responded, “I am neither blue nor green. If you ask my color, I am red,” and mobilized Chinese spouses to campaign for Huang.
During the 2024 presidential election, prosecutors said Sun instructed Xu to maintain contact with Huang, who had joined the TPP the previous year. After learning that the TPP’s Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) aimed to build support among Chinese spouses, Xu reported her interactions to Yang and mobilized them to campaign for Ko.
Prosecutors added that between 2020 and 2025, Xu illegally conducted currency exchanges involving the Taiwan dollar, Chinese yuan, and US dollar, totaling NT$28.75 million (US$900,000), with illicit gains exceeding NT$240,000.
To apply for a mortgage in her daughter’s name, she arranged for a company owned by a friend, surnamed Lo (羅), to enroll her daughter and provide labor insurance and issue false employment certificates, which were then used to secure a NT$26.97 million loan.
Prosecutors said Xu, despite benefiting from Taiwan’s democratic system and legal protections after obtaining citizenship “expressed her loyalty to the CCP” and engaged with “hostile foreign forces.”
She is accused of leaking political intelligence, helping the CCP monitor Chinese spouses’ speeches, using united front benefits to maintain influence in the community, and leveraging her mobilization capacity to seek at-large legislative seats from political parties.
She has been indicted under the Anti-Infiltration Act, Banking Act, and Criminal Code offenses, including forgery and fraud, with prosecutors recommending a heavy sentence.
