A Taiwanese local politician running for county chief has been given a six-month sentence for illegally occupying state land, a blow to his campaign that he is fighting in court.

• Chang Chun, speaker of the Hualien county council and an independent candidate for county chief, was convicted of attempted soil and water damage through illegal occupation of state hillside land.
• The sentence can be converted to a fine, and he has appealed, so the case is not final.
• The court found his family had grown betel nut on state-owned slopes since the 1980s, and that he rented the land to farmers for years without permission from the national property agency.
• Chang says the betel nut grove was inherited, that he planted nothing new and cleared no land, and later paid rent and compensation before returning the land to the state.
• He calls the case a political attack, saying court matters should not be edited and twisted for campaign purposes.

Outlook: The appeal will keep the case alive through the run-up to the county chief race, leaving his candidacy under a legal cloud.