According to the Taipei Times and Liberty Times reports of the 7th, the office indicted Chin, her former legislative office director and two publicly funded legislative assistants under the National Security Act and the Anti-Corruption Act, the latter including bribery. Prosecutors asked for 14 years for Chin and 15 years for the former director, who is believed to have fled.

The gist of the indictment is as follows. From 2005 to 2016 the former director and one assistant allegedly coordinated election campaigns, legislative work and outreach to indigenous communities, while another assistant allegedly traveled between Taiwan and China as a go-between relaying instructions from Chinese figures. Prosecutors also say Chinese money labeled for infrastructure in indigenous areas was received and moved through relatives' and friends' accounts, more than NT$170 million (about US$5.19 million).

An indictment that reaches legislative conduct

Prosecutors claim Chin used her legislative post to influence proceedings on arms purchases, cross-strait relations, foreign affairs and defense on Beijing's instructions. They cited an alleged lack of remorse and attempts to evade responsibility in asking for the sentence. The two assistants indicted alongside her reportedly confessed, returned illicit gains and described the others' roles in detail.

Chin denies building an organization for the Chinese government or receiving Chinese funds. The Taipei Times quotes her as saying her opposition to arms purchases is a long-held view rather than a Beijing directive, and asking why she would need Chinese money to win re-election after seven terms and 24 years working in indigenous communities. She also claims prosecutors rushed the indictment to deflect from failing to catch the fled director, and that it came about a decade after the alleged acts, just before an election, after more than 20 years of surveillance.

A separate trial and differing readings

In June Chin was indicted with 23 others by the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office on corruption and fraud charges, including embezzlement of public funds and importing unapproved COVID-19 test kits from China, and that case awaits trial. The new indictment is a separate matter.

An indictment is not a court finding of guilt and will be contested at trial. Her claim that smears labeling opposition figures pro-China or spies are growing, and prosecutors' judgment that they are guarding against a security threat, are set side by side here as both sides' positions, and this paper will follow the proceedings.