Chinese spouse Hsu Chun-ying was sentenced to seven years in prison in the first instance under the Anti-Infiltration Act for intervening in Taiwan's elections at the direction of Chinese Communist Party figures — a heavy blow to the family life she has built in Taiwan over nearly 30 years.

• Hsu Chun-ying has been in Taiwan for close to 30 years, having long since bought property and worked here, and her daughter grew up in Taiwan.
• Her parents, who originally lived in Shanghai, were local residents relocated under a demolition scheme; in recent years they sold their home and, at her urging, moved to Taiwan to live permanently.
• The centre of gravity of the family's life across three generations has clearly shifted from Shanghai to Taiwan, and she choked back tears several times in court while saying she "loves Taiwan."
• The Ministry of the Interior has already initiated proceedings under the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area to revoke or annul her residency status.
• An official familiar with cross-strait affairs noted that first-generation Chinese spouses may regard Taiwan as home without their national identity shifting in step, and the gap in identity between her and her daughter is precisely such a case.

Outlook: If the seven-year sentence is upheld on final appeal, she would still have to serve about two years and eleven months more before reaching the threshold for parole, after which the question of her departure from Taiwan would be handled according to law.