Taiwan’s High Court sentenced Zhou Manzhi (周滿芝), head of the Taiwan New Immigrants’ Association, to eight years in prison under the National Security Act this Tuesday.

Zhou, who was born in China and married a Taiwanese national, was charged with operating under Chinese directives and funding the development of pro-Beijing organizations operating in Taiwan.

Prosecutors said Zhou had longstanding ties to Chinese patriotic groups, citing her membership in the Shaanxi Patriotic Volunteer Association, her role in forming the “Chinese Patriotic Party” (中國愛國黨) in 2015, and her establishment of the Kaohsiung New Immigrants Sisters Care Association in 2016. They also said Zhou joined China’s United Front Work Department, a Chinese Communist Party agency, in 2016.

According to the prosecution, Zhou traveled to China in 2017 to meet with United Front officials and seek funding to expand pro-China organizations in Taiwan. The prosecutors also found that she returned to China in 2018 to sign a declaration advocating reunification with China and recruited spouses from China in Taiwan under the name of the Kaohsiung New Immigrants Sisters Care Association.

The Supreme Court had previously ordered a retrial, ruling that the initial investigation was incomplete. The Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch Court delivered the retrial verdict at 9:30 a.m. this Tuesday, reversing the earlier acquittal and sentencing Zhou to eight years in prison. The ruling may still be appealed.