Taiwan's High Prosecutors Office on Friday indicted independent legislator Kao Chin Su-mei on National Security Act and corruption charges, alleging she received Chinese funding to build political influence networks inside Taiwan, and asked the court to sentence her to 14 years in prison, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported.

Source: Focus Taiwan (CNA) via EIN Presswire

Kao, 61, was indicted along with three collaborators, including her office director Chang Chun-chieh, for whom prosecutors sought a 15-year sentence. Prosecutors allege the group unlawfully accepted around NT$170 million sent from China — yaani about 4.6 million euros — between 2005 and 2016, according to CNA reporting carried by Demócrata.

Source: CNA via Demócrata

What prosecutors allege

The indictment alleges that Kao acted on instructions from Chinese officials to intervene in parliament on issues including opposition to arms purchases, the Taiwan Strait situation, and defence and foreign policy matters, in an attempt to influence how laws were processed, CNA reported. Taiwanese media reported prosecutors allege the network operated under a team name and that funds were channelled through community and tribal development routes and relatives' accounts — all allegations that remain to be tested in court.

Two aides who had been detained, Chen Chih-hu and Lin Yi-chun, were also indicted; Mirror News reported both had confessed to working for China and were transferred to the High Court on Friday for judges to decide on continued detention. Chang Chun-chieh is reported by Taiwanese media to have absconded while on bail.

Kao denies the charges

After the charges became known, Kao issued a statement denying that she created any structure on behalf of the Chinese government or received funding from Beijing, and said the allegations against her are unfounded, CNA reported. She had earlier been questioned as a defendant in the case on November 2 and restricted from leaving Taiwan. The indictment is a new development in that investigation — moving it from questioning to a formal court case — and no court has ruled on the allegations.

Context: Kao, an Indigenous (Highland Aborigines constituency) lawmaker first elected in 2001, is a prominent voice on Indigenous affairs in Taiwan's legislature. The case lands as Taipei accuses Beijing of stepping up influence operations around the island, which China claims as its own territory — a claim Taiwan's government rejects. What happens next is the trial itself, where prosecutors must prove the funding and instruction claims they have alleged.