A US Navy officer with access to sensitive US intelligence faces espionage charges over accusations he passed state secrets, possibly to China and Taiwan, a US official told reporters on Sunday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the suspect as Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin, who was born in Taiwan and later became a naturalized US citizen, according to a navy profile article written about him in 2008.
A redacted navy charge sheet said the suspect was assigned to the headquarters of the navy’s Patrol and Reconnaissance Group, which oversees intelligence collection activities.
The charge sheet redacted the name of the suspect and the navy did not give details on his identity.
It accused him twice of communicating secret information and three times of attempting to do so to a representative of a foreign government “with intent or reason to believe it would be used to the advantage of a foreign nation.”
The document did not identify what foreign country or countries were involved.
The US official said both Taiwan and China were possible, but added that the investigation is still ongoing.
The suspect was also accused of engaging in prostitution and adultery. He has been held in pretrial confinement for the past eight months or so, the official added.
USNI News, which first reported Lin’s identity, said he spoke fluent Mandarin and managed the collection of electronic signals from the EP3-E Aries II signals intelligence aircraft.
The US Navy profiled Lin in a 2008 article that focused on his naturalization to the US, saying his family left Taiwan when he was 14 and stayed in different countries before going to the US.
“I always dreamed about coming to America, the ‘promised land,’” he said. “I grew up believing that all the roads in America lead to Disneyland.”
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) said he was not aware of the details of the case. He did not elaborate. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique