A Kaohsiung court has handed a China-born Taiwanese resident an 18-month prison term for organizing on behalf of Beijing and campaigning in Taiwan's legislative election — a warning shot to China's influence operations on the island.

• Chou Man-chih, head of a Taiwanese immigrant-support federation, was found to have taken orders from groups controlled by the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department.
• She set up two immigrant associations in Taiwan and used them to push pro-Beijing messaging, the court found.
• During the last legislative election she publicly stumped for a Labour Party candidate, also a Chinese spouse, in what judges called an attempt to win a seat and grow pro-China networks.
• Co-defendants got sentences ranging from probation to 22 months; one was acquitted, and another defendant is a fugitive.
• Chou already lost a separate case in July, when Taiwan's top court finalized an eight-year sentence for organizing on China's behalf and promoting "one country, two systems."

Outlook: Taiwan's courts look set to keep prosecuting United Front-linked organizing aggressively, especially where it touches elections.