Two Taiwanese men are heading to prison for taking Chinese state-funded trips meant to swing voters, a warning shot for anyone running similar influence operations ahead of Taiwan's elections.

• A New Taipei borough chief and a youth exchange group leader were given prison terms of 2.5 and nearly 5 years, now final after the top court threw out their appeals.
• They organized trips to Nanjing and Huai'an for other borough chiefs, relatives, and friends, telling them the lavish hosting was "on Xi Jinping."
• Nanjing's Taiwan affairs office paid for the food, hotels, and transport, planned the itinerary, and asked specifically for people at borough-chief level or above.
• During the trips, Chinese officials pushed guests to back a blue-white opposition alliance and oppose the ruling DPP, under banners about both sides being one family.
• A lower court had acquitted both for lack of proof the free travel was tied to votes; the appeals court reversed that and applied the Anti-Infiltration Law's tougher penalties.

Outlook: The ruling sets a clear precedent that funded travel plus political pitching counts as illegal infiltration, likely chilling similar trips before Taiwan's next election cycle.