Taiwan's opposition KMT says letters sent by chief prosecutors to village chiefs ahead of year-end elections are scaring ordinary people away from travel to China — bad news for cross-strait exchange groups, and a fight the ruling DPP now has to defend.

• Chief prosecutors across Taiwan mailed village chiefs an anti-vote-buying letter that also warns about cheap or free China trips being used to sway the election.
• The KMT says past anti-vote-buying letters never included cross-strait travel, and calls this intimidation dressed up as public education.
• Lawyers backing the party argue the letter never draws a clear line between legal exchange trips and illegal vote-buying, leaving people afraid to go at all.
• One lawyer who has joined such trips said they were sightseeing and food talk with no push to back any candidate, and that past convictions of village chiefs involved cash changing hands locally.
• Many people, including students, traveled on these tours over the summer and now worry they could be treated as suspects.

Outlook: Expect the fight over the letters to sharpen as Taiwan's year-end local elections approach, with the KMT pressing prosecutors to spell out what is actually illegal.