Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has hailed a court ruling against Lin Hsueh-feng, a former Kuomintang candidate for Chiayi City councilor, as highly significant. Lin was sentenced to four years in prison under Taiwan’s Anti-Infiltration Act after the Supreme Court rejected his final appeal.
Lin was accused of accepting funding from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to organize trips to mainland China for village and neighborhood chiefs in Chiayi County, during which he allegedly urged participants to support a specific candidate in elections.
At a regular press briefing, MAC Deputy Chairman and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh said the ruling’s significance lies in the court’s formal recognition that the CCP constitutes a “hostile external force.” He noted that some have recently argued the CCP does not fit this designation, but said the court’s clear ruling would likely carry major weight for similar cases going forward.
According to the Chiayi District Court’s original verdict, Lin had argued during the first trial that the CCP was a “friendly force” toward Taiwan rather than a hostile external one. The court rejected this, citing Beijing’s continued refusal to renounce the use of force against Taiwan, its increasingly frequent deployment of military aircraft and ships near Taiwan, and military exercises intended to intimidate the island. The court concluded that the CCP government advocates non-peaceful means to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty and maintains an armed standoff with Taiwan, meeting the legal definition of a hostile external force under the Anti-Infiltration Act — with the Taizhou Municipal Taiwan Affairs Office identified as its affiliated infiltration source.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), July 30, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202607300367.aspx