TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The New Taipei District Court on Tuesday sentenced Chinese spouse Xu Chunying to seven years in prison for fraud, assisting Chinese in illegally entering Taiwan, and political activities allegedly conducted at the direction of Beijing.
Xu, the former head of the Taiwan People's Party's New Immigrants Committee, was convicted of violating the Anti-Infiltration Act, the Banking Act, and the Criminal Act. The verdict is expected to result in the revocation of her Taiwanese citizenship. She will also be deported after completing her prison sentence, per LTN.
She married and moved to Taiwan in 1993 and obtained Taiwanese citizenship in 2000, although she did not renounce her Chinese citizenship. She served for years as head of the Cross-Strait Marriage and Family Service Alliance and maintained frequent contact with Chinese officials.
An investigation found that Xu had long-term interactions with multiple Chinese officials and, starting in 2021, followed their instructions to campaign for TPP candidates, thereby allowing pro-unification forces to gain influence within the party. A candidate recommended by Chinese officials was eventually included on the TPP's list of at-large legislative candidates.
She was also charged with operating an underground money exchange and engaging in loan fraud in March. The New Taipei District Court found her guilty of these charges as part of the combined seven-year sentence, which can be appealed, per LTN.
In a related case, the Supreme Court in late July rejected an appeal by another Chinese spouse, Zhou Manzhi, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for organizing pro-China groups in Taiwan at the direction of Beijing. Zhou will also lose her citizenship and be deported after serving her sentence.
The court ruled Zhou's actions deliberately sought to replace Taiwan's constitutional order with a communist system while concealing that she was acting on instructions from Beijing.
