Taiwan Supreme Court upholds 8-year sentence for pro-China organizer

Taipei, July 23 (CNA) Taiwan's Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld an eight-year prison sentence for Zhou Manzhi (周滿芝), head of a marriage-immigrant advocacy organization, for developing organizations in Taiwan under China's direction.

According to a January 2026 ruling by the Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Court, Zhou, a China-born woman who obtained Taiwanese citizenship through marriage in 2003, established the Kaohsiung New Immigrant Sisters Association and the Taiwan New Immigrants Association under the direction of organizations effectively controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2015.

The high court stated that an investigation by the National Security Bureau found that the two organizations were founded to be under the direction of the Shaanxi Province Patriotic Volunteers Association and the China Patriotic Volunteers Association, which operate in line with CCP united front directives and are subject to substantive control by provincial-level united front departments.

The high court found that Zhou used the groups to cultivate influence among Chinese spouses, new immigrants and second-generation immigrants, concluding that her activities posed a substantial threat to the Republic of China's (ROC) constitutional order and Taiwan's free and democratic constitutional system, while undermining social stability.

In sentencing Zhou, the high court said it took into account that her offenses involved ideological infiltration and united front activities rather than traditional espionage, as well as her lack of a prior criminal record.

She was sentenced to eight years in prison for violating the National Security Act by developing organizations in Taiwan on behalf of China with the intent to endanger national security and social stability.

According to the ROC's National Security Act, no person should engage in initiating, funding, hosting, manipulating, directing or developing an organization for foreign hostile forces, including China.

Zhou appealed the ruling, but the Supreme Court dismissed her appeal on Wednesday, making the conviction final.

Supreme Court reasoning

In its ruling, the Supreme Court said freedom of speech and the expression of political opinions are fully protected under the law.

However, it said democratic systems face a serious threat when hostile forces exploit those freedoms to undermine the foundations of democracy.

The court added that the lower court had sufficiently established that Zhou developed organizations directly controlled by China and that she acted with the intent to endanger national security and social stability.

Based on the facts established during the retrial, the court said Zhou acted under China's direction to develop organizations in Taiwan while concealing their ties to Chinese hostile forces, rather than providing the public with truthful information.

It said her ultimate aim was to replace Taiwan's free and democratic constitutional order with the CCP's political system, conduct that went beyond the legitimate competition of diverse political ideas from which citizens are free to choose.

The Supreme Court found no error in the high court's application of the law. It said Zhou's appeal merely repeated arguments already addressed in the lower court's ruling while disregarding its reasoning.

Timeline

Zhou was initially acquitted in March 2025 after the Taiwan High Court's Kaohsiung Branch found insufficient evidence that the CCP exercised control over the Shaanxi Province Patriotic Volunteers Association or the China Patriotic Volunteers Association.

The Supreme Court later ruled that prosecutors had submitted a National Security Bureau investigation indicating the two groups were linked to CCP cadres and Chinese government or military personnel. Finding that the lower court had failed to consider all relevant evidence, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial in September 2025.

After admitting the National Security Bureau's evidence, the Taiwan High Court's Kaohsiung Branch sentenced Zhou to eight years in prison in January 2026. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction in July 2026.