Zhou Xiaoyun, director of the New Taipei City Sanchong Luzhou District Service Office when Chairman Huang Guochang was a legislator, was drafted by the People's Party to "parachute" into Taoyuan to run for city council. However, she was suspected of being sponsored by the Chinese side to participate in the election. The New Taipei District Prosecutor's Office recently launched a search and interview. After the interrogation, she participated in the election campaign on the basis of "instruction from an infiltration source" in the anti-infiltration law. " and other crimes, she was ordered to post a bail of NT$500,000, restricted from leaving the country, overseas travel and residence, and implemented technological equipment monitoring. Afterwards, Ms. Zhou posted an article on the Internet claiming that the matter being reported was "a group trip of the Lions Club Presidents Association in September last year." The New Taipei Prosecutor's Office said today that Ms. Zhou's statement was only her personal one-sided statement and not the entire case.
Ms. Zhou later claimed on the Internet: "I have never accepted instructions, commissions or funding from any foreign forces to engage in electoral activities. If I haven't done anything, I haven't done it." She also pointed out: "What is even more ridiculous is that the matter that was reported this time was a group trip of the Lions Club Presidents Association in September last year. Xiaoyun is from Kinmen. Kinmen and Xiamen have had close exchanges since ancient times. Visiting relatives, doing business, and traveling are common. As a Kinmen person, does it mean that if you have been to Xiamen? Must we bear the original sin of being pro-communist? Is this a cross that all Kinmen people must bear? Normal group travel is accused of accepting instructions from foreign forces, and even escalates to a national security crime. Is the DPP government telling all Chinese people that if you have been to China, you may be regarded as a communist spy?" etc.
The New Taipei Prosecutor's Office issued a press release today stating that what Ms. Zhou said was only her personal one-sided statement and was not a complete picture of the case. The prosecutor investigated the case based on objective evidence and conducted an investigation in accordance with the law. It did not conduct an investigation just because Ms. Zhou had traveled to China. Ms. Zhou used some of the investigative matters to infer the prosecutor's motive for the investigation, which is inconsistent with the facts. We hereby clarify this to avoid misunderstanding by the outside world.
The prosecutor also stated that criminal cases are investigated and handled based on objective evidence and relevant legal provisions, and are handled in an objective, neutral and impartial manner in accordance with the law. There will never be any differential treatment based on the political stance, identity or participation in elections of the persons involved, let alone "judicial selection". As for the investigation content of individual cases, it will not be explained based on the principle of non-disclosure of investigation.
On Monday, the prosecutor directed the Investigation Bureau's New Taipei City Investigation Division, Information Security Station, Nangang Police Station, and Sanchong Police Station to search 18 places including Zhou's residence, and notified Zhou and 14 other people to come to the case. After interrogation, Zhou was found guilty of the crime of "participating in campaign activities under instructions from an infiltrated source" under the Anti-infiltration Law, the Personal Data Protection Act, the Commercial Accounting Law, and the Criminal Law, and was ordered to pay 500,000 in bail.
Zhou Xiaoyun once served as the Kinmen County Party Representative and Party Executive Director of the People's Party. She ran for Kinmen County Assembly in 2022 and was defeated with only 1,157 votes. In May last year, she decided to move to Sanchong and Luzhou Districts in New Taipei City. She resigned as CEO and joined the Central Party Headquarters of the People's Party as deputy director of the Organization Development Department. In October of the same year, she served as director of Huang Guochang's Sanchong and Luzhou District Service Offices.
But early this year, Zhou Xiaoyun suffered an upset loss to her amateur opponent Chen Yanting. She later complained that no one knew Chen Yanting. In May, she was recruited by the People's Party and "parachuted" into the Guishan District of Taoyuan City to run for city council. This triggered a local backlash. Gao Huahong, the former director of the People's Party in Guishan who originally intended to run, announced his resignation from the party and said bluntly: "This is not a competition, this is humiliation."
