Taiwanese court convicts three retired officers for spying on behalf of China
The Taipei District Court has sentenced three retired police officers.
Taipei District Court sentences three retired officersThe Taipei District Court has sentenced three retired officers of the Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) to prison for forming an espionage network to collect sensitive information on behalf of China, Taiwan News reports.
The Taipei District Court rulings can still be appealed. Former Maj. Gen. Yueh Chih-chung was given a 10-month prison sentence, retired Col. Chang Chao-jan was given an 18-month sentence, and ex-Colonel Chou Tien-tzu was given a 14-month sentence. Ex-Colonel Wang Ta-wang was found not guilty, Taiwan News reported on Friday.
Taiwan News reported that Chang, Chou and Yueh took benefits from China for their business and were invited for free trips, prosecutors said. A national security official in China’s Guangdong province told them they were forming an espionage network and collecting secret information from Taiwan.
Chang was accused of arranging a trip to China for Wang, who revealed personal background information about colleagues to Chinese officials.
After the investigation was completed, prosecutors decided to charge the suspects with violating the National Security Act by setting up an espionage organization and the National Intelligence Work Act by leaking secrets, Taiwan News reported.
On August 30, Taiwan’s Supreme Court sentenced a father and son to eight years in prison for enticing active-duty military personnel to pass on secret information about the annual Han Kuang exercises to China.
The Supreme Court rejected the final appeals on August 29. The two suspects, surnamed Huang, first came into contact with Chinese intelligence services in 2015, when they were doing business in Xiamen.
According to Taiwan News, the duo recruited two officers for separate air defense and missile units: Yeh and Su.
The group passed on eight secret documents about the Han Kuang exercises, either delivering the information to China in person or sending images and graphs via messaging software.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been edited by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First publication: 07 Sep 2024 | 07:34 am IST