Taipei: The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a two-year, eight-month prison sentence for former independent legislative candidate Ma Chih-wei for accepting funding from China during her 2024 election campaign. The ruling is final, and the court stated that prosecutors had been notified to take measures to prevent Ma from leaving the country.
According to Focus Taiwan, prosecutors revealed that Ma received approximately NT$1.05 million (US$32,510) in cash and cryptocurrency from two China-based contacts, known as "Bing-jie" and "A-hao". The funds were used to support her campaign for a legislative seat in Taoyuan in the January 2024 elections. In exchange, Ma provided the contacts with business cards of national security personnel and a directory of liaison officers between the central government and the Legislative Yuan. This information was reportedly shared to maintain the contacts' trust and secure further financial backing.
Ma was indicted for violations of the Anti-Infiltration Act, the Personal Data Protection Act, and the National Security Act. Initially, the Taoyuan District Court found her guilty only of illegally collecting and using personal data, sentencing her to eight months in prison. The court had ruled that prosecutors failed to prove that the two contacts represented a hostile foreign force or an organization acting on its behalf.
However, the Taiwan High Court overturned part of the lower court's ruling on appeal, finding Ma guilty of accepting election funding from an organization effectively controlled by China, as well as illegally collecting and using personal data. As a result, her sentence was extended to two years and eight months. The High Court described Ma as a "local collaborator" aiding a hostile foreign force in interfering with Taiwan's elections. Despite Ma's appeal, the Supreme Court dismissed it on Thursday, finalizing the conviction.