A Taipei court has sentenced five people to prison for using Chinese funds to buy votes for opposition presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu in the 2020 election.
Han represented Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the KMT, in the 2020 general election.
The Taipei District Court ruled that the defendants used Chinese government funds to convince Taiwanese nationals living there to cast their ballots for Han. Funds went towards organizing a year-end banquet at a luxury hotel in China’s Hunan province, and providing substantial aid for airline tickets to return to Taiwan.
The defendants were ruled to have breached the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act.
The chairman of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises in Changsha, Lin Huai, was given a prison sentence of three years and eight months.
Four other defendants were given lighter prison sentences. The sentences also included fixed periods of voter disqualification, preventing the persons found guilty from exercising their right to vote.
Two additional defendants were acquitted of wrongdoing.
The sentenced individuals may appeal the verdict.