Two senior Chinese military officers allegedly involved in China's worst-ever espionage case have been sentenced to death on charges of spying for Taiwan, a report said yesterday.
Major General Liu Guangzhi (劉廣智), commandant of China's Air Force Command Academy, and another academy officer were sentenced to death after two months of questioning, a local newspaper said in a story published on its Internet Web site.
Heavy punishments have also been handed down to at least 20 other military officers implicated in the case, it said, citing sources in Beijing.
Since Liu was also a deputy of the National People's Congress, Central Military Commission chairman and former Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) had ordered severe punishment for those in what he described as "the worst spy case since the founding of the People's Republic of China," it said.
Liu's partner and his son have also been arrested.
The newspaper said the spy ring was cracked in March following the seizure of Taiwan Military Intelligence Bureau Colonel Li Yun-pu (
Operating under the guise of a business executive with a technology firm, Li had infiltrated Chinese military units and recruited a number of officers, it added.
The spy network, centered on the Nanjing military region, covered targets such as the East Sea Fleet in Ningpo and Leping missile base in Jiangxi Province, which supervises missile bases facing Taiwan.
It is thought to be the largest alleged Taiwan spy ring uncovered by China since 1998.
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