The Kaohsiung branch of the High Court yesterday sentenced a Chinese immigrant to eight years in prison for creating immigrant associations sponsored by Chinese “united front” groups, overturning a previous acquittal after the Supreme Court remanded the case for retrial.
The court sentenced Zhou Manzhi (周滿芝) to eight years for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法).
The ruling can be appealed.
Photo: CNA
As chair of the Taiwan New Residents Care Association, Zhou was accused of acting at the direction of Chinese organizations — including the Shaanxi Patriotic Volunteer Association — to develop organizations in Taiwan.
The Kaohsiung branch of the High Court previously acquitted Zhou due to insufficient evidence.
Zhou obtained residency in Taiwan in 2004 after marrying a Taiwanese man.
She was a member of the Shaanxi Patriotic Volunteer Association and the China Patriotic Volunteer Association, civilian groups commissioned by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, the court said.
She established the Kaohsiung New Residents Sisters Care Association in 2016 and the Taiwan New Residents Care Association in 2019, it said.
As a member of the committee and the Shaanxi Patriotic Volunteer Association, she became acquainted with its chief executive, Cui Guowei (崔國衛), who instructed her to form the auxiliary organizations in Taiwan, the court said.
Zhou in 2017 traveled to China to meet with Huang Lanxiang (黃蘭香), head of the committee’s Hunan Province division, to seek assistance and sponsorship to form the organizations, although her request for a meeting was denied, it said.
She again in 2018 traveled to China to meet with Cui and signed a declaration to promote “one country, two systems” in Taiwan and promote “united front” work, it added.
The Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office opened an investigation into Zhou and Hsu Shao-tung (徐少東), former vice chair of the For Public Good Party, a Chinese nationalist right-wing party in Taiwan, who has since become a fugitive.
The two were suspected of contravening the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法) and other laws.
Prosecutors suspected Zhou of forming “united front” organizations and transferred the case to the Kaohsiung High Prosecutors’ Office.
The Kaohsiung branch of the High Court then consulted the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau, which initially found that there was no evidence of substantive control or direct links between Chinese authorities and the organizations.
Prosecutors also previously failed to prove that Zhou had directly or indirectly received funds or sponsorship from China, or that she had meetings with “united front” officials, so there was insufficient evidence for a conviction, the court said.
In its second ruling, the court cited evidence from the National Security Bureau as proving that the Shaanxi Patriotic Volunteer Association is under the control of China’s “united front” apparatus.
It said that Zhou formed the organizations in Taiwan under the instruction of these Chinese organizations, and “actively planned and implemented activities with clear ‘united front’ objectives,” posing a threat to national security and social stability.
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