A pro-Beijing figure spied on Taiwan by collecting and selling to China personal information about pro-independence island residents, in return for a reward of  400,000 yuan (US$61,200), prosecutors said in Taipei on Monday.

Facing trial is He Jianhua, chairperson of the National Women’s League in Taiwan. Prosecutors said she reported a Taiwanese associate professor to mainland authorities for holding pro-independence views. She also collected personal particulars of other people with similar political leanings, the prosecutors said.

He has been charged with violating Taiwan’s national security law, and for allegedly receiving 400,000 yuan from mainland authorities in return.

Mainland-born He became a Taiwanese resident after marrying a Taiwanese businessperson in the 1990s. She is now also a section head of the Chinese Unification Promotion Party, a pro-Beijing political group.

Prosecutors also alleged that between 2017 and 2018, He attempted to influence the upcoming 2020 presidential election. She allegedly acted on the instructions of a group founded by the wife of Justin Lin, a Taiwanese scholar who has defected to the mainland. Lin’s group asked He to take part in protests and smear campaigns targeting President Tsai Ing-wen, prosecutors said. In return, He was paid 30,000 yuan, they said.

Also charged with breaching national security laws was a journalist who allegedly received a monthly reward of around NTD20,000 (US$700) to help He write reports and proposals on her group’s work.

He said on Monday that the 400,000 yuan was revenue from her second-hand apparel business.

Last year, He was acquitted of election offences under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act. She was accused of breaking the law by treating a group of mainland wives of Taiwanese residents to a tour to the Fujian city of Xiamen while standing for a legislative election.

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