The Taiwan New Residents Care Association Chairman Zhou Manzhi and former Vice Chairman of the China Zhi Gong Party Xu Shaodong, among others, are suspected of receiving instructions from the Chinese Communist United Front Work Department during the Taiwan presidential election in an attempt to influence the election through fake polls and providing free trips to mainland China.
Zhou Manzhi was accused of receiving instructions and funding from the Chinese Communist Party to establish organizations in Taiwan. The Supreme Court of Taiwan sentenced her to 8 years in prison on July 22 under the National Security Law for the development of the organization in Taiwan. In the 2024 elections, due to instructions from the Chinese Communist Party, she assisted in the election campaign for a Labor Party candidate who is also a mainland spouse, resulting in a 1 year and 6 months sentence for violating the Anti-Infiltration Law by the Kaohsiung Qiaotou District Court.
Zhou Manzhi was charged with developing organizations in Taiwan under Chinese Communist Party instructions. The Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch initially acquitted Zhou, but the Supreme Court revoked the decision and sent it back, with the Kaohsiung Branch ruling that her activities of infiltrating Chinese spouses, new immigrants, and second-generation new immigrants posed a substantial threat to the existence of the Republic of China and the free democratic constitutional order in Taiwan, causing harm to social stability. Therefore, she was sentenced to 8 years. The Mainland Affairs Council stated that Zhou Manzhi’s Taiwanese identity will be revoked.
The Kaohsiung Qiaotou District Court in Taiwan issued a press release today, stating that Zhou Manzhi and others violated the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act. After the hearing by the collegial panel, the verdict was announced on August 21, 2026.
The judgment indicated that Zhou Manzhi originally hailed from mainland China and arrived in Taiwan as a mainland spouse in 2001. She was aware that the associations she established in Taiwan, such as the Kaohsiung New Residents Sister Care Association and the Taiwan New Residents Care Association, operated with the main purpose of promoting United Front work, despite being under the de facto control of the Chinese Communist Party. She actively promoted activities with United Front objectives during the elections for the President, Vice President, and Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China by supporting a Labor Party candidate who is also a mainland spouse to gain seats and expand the organization’s influence to fulfill United Front missions.
The Qiaotou District Court judges took into consideration her knowledge of the Chinese Communist Party’s long-term infiltration of Taiwanese society through various means such as military, cultural, and diplomatic channels but still chose to interfere in Taiwan’s elections based on infiltration sources, seriously influencing the election atmosphere and compromising the fairness, integrity, and purity of the electoral process. Despite denying the charges throughout, disregarding government laws and ordinances, her actions had a significant negative impact on the fair operation of Taiwan’s electoral system, harming the sound development of democratic politics. Hence, she was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months for violating the Anti-Infiltration Law. The entire case is subject to appeal.
Furthermore, the absconding defendant Xu Shaodong, in order to create a favorable impression of political-business relations, instructed his son Xu Weifu to counterfeit the steel stamps and CEO Huang Renxun of NVIDIA, as well as former President of the Republic of China Tsai Ing-wen’s congratulatory letters. This was aimed at portraying Xu Shaodong as having good political-business relations and significant influence in Taiwan. Xu Weifu confessed to the crimes and was sentenced to 1 year and 10 months for forgery.
Xu Shaodong, a former Vice Chairman of the China Zhi Gong Party, and Zhou Manzhi accepted instructions from officials of the Chinese Communist Party Taiwan Affairs Office during the 2023 presidential election to interfere in the presidential election and United Front activities of the Republic of China.
Xu Shaodong’s former girlfriend Wang Min helped him receive $300,000 in unexplained funds. In collusion, they opened accounts in both Taiwanese and foreign currencies, forged art sale contracts to process remittances, evading scrutiny. Considering her confession, she was sentenced to 1 year in prison for special money laundering and granted a 4-year probation, with a requirement to pay NT$300,000 to the public treasury, provide 120 hours of community service, and attend 2 legal education sessions.
Additionally, in regard to the prosecution by the Qiaotou District Prosecutors’ Office involving Zhou Manzhi and the Secretary-General of the Taiwan New Residents Care Association Guo Yongcong for allegedly inviting village heads to receive hospitality in mainland China and spreading false poll results and supporting Foxconn founder Terry Gou, the judges determined that the tour group members had paid fees and were not informed of election-related matters. There was no evidence indicating Zhou Manzhi’s involvement in the false polls, as they were solely produced and financed by Xu Shaodong. The verdict clarified that the term “candidates” under the Anti-Infiltration Law does not apply to those not ultimately listed in the Central Election Commission candidate roster. As Gou did not officially register as a presidential candidate, Zhou’s campaign activities for him were deemed invalid and not substantively illegal, resulting in an acquittal for these specific charges.