A Taiwan county-level politician running for Hualien magistrate has been handed a six-month sentence over illegally occupied state hillside land, a legal blow in the middle of his campaign.

• Chang Chun, speaker of the Hualien County Council and a candidate for county magistrate, got six months, convertible to a fine, for attempted illegal occupation causing soil erosion.
• The court found his family rented out a large betel nut plantation on state-owned hillside land to farmers for nine years without permission, collecting rent each year.
• Chang says the trees were planted by his grandfather decades ago, that he planted nothing new, cleared no land, and used no heavy machinery.
• He has appealed, arguing no erosion or disaster actually happened and that he later paid rent and compensation and returned the land to the state.
• Aerial photos convinced judges the original forest had been disturbed, but with no proof of actual erosion he was convicted only of an attempt.

Outlook: The verdict is not final and the appeal will run alongside his campaign, keeping the case a political weapon into the election.