However, he said: "I was not at any time an agent of Taiwan."
He added that his meetings with Cheng and her boss at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington -- the National Security Bureau's (NSB's) top agent in TECRO, [Huang Kuang-hsun (黃光勳)] -- were in furtherance of US policy on Taiwan.
"Neither Cheng nor Huang ever sought or received from me any unauthorized information," Keyser said.
Many US officials meet NSB officials in Washington on a regular basis, a normal and useful activity for US policy toward Taiwan, he said.
In sentencing Keyser, Ellis said he took into account more than 50 letters supporting Keyser and attesting to his character.
These came from various sources, including former senior ambassadors, generals, admirals, intelligence officials and active State Department officials.
An aide to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in the courthouse, but told the Taipei Times that Rice was not one of the letter writers.
RSS