The Supreme Court yesterday rejected appeals by Reunification Alliance Party members Chang Tsun-feng (張存逢) and Huang Jung-te (黃榮德), upholding their prison sentences for espionage and electoral fraud.
Chang and Huang, who were the chairman and chief executive officer of the pro-Beijing party’s Pingtung branch respectively, were indicted in February last year for accepting instructions from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) to help infiltrate Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections.
Chang and Huang in September and October 2024 allegedly accepted requests by TAO officials to treat Taiwanese voters to discounted trips to China’s Hainan and Shanxi provinces, the Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Photo: Chang Wen-chuan, Taipei Times
Members of the tour groups only had to pay NT$18,500 for plane tickets, transportation in Taiwan, insurance and administrative fees, while the rest was paid by the Chinese government, it said.
Upon landing in China, they were greeted by Hainan Provincial Federation of Taiwan Compatriots president Xing Yiwen (邢詒文) and vice president Liu Fang-ying (劉芳穎), as well as officials from the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, the indictment said.
The Chinese government paid for their expenses including meals, tours, visits, accommodation and transportation in China, while the Chinese officials allegedly promoted “united front” rhetoric, such as “both sides of the Strait are one family” and a “peaceful unification” during their tour and at meals, it added.
On Dec. 23, 2024, in a general assembly of the party’s members at its Pingtung branch, Chang and Huang tried to solicit votes for specific presidential and legislative candidates, the indictment said.
They were later found guilty by the Pingtung District Court for contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), and the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法), and were each sentenced to four years and six months in prison.
They both appealed the verdict, but the Kaohsiung Branch of the High Court dismissed the appeal.
Chang and Huang appealed again, but the Supreme Court yesterday dismissed the final appeal, finalizing the conviction.
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