The Ministry of National Defense (MND) denied a local media report yesterday claiming that former Army major general Lo Hsien-che (羅賢哲) sold a scrambler used by Taiwan’s intelligence services to China while he was posted in Thailand from 2002 to 2005.
“An investigation indicated no such thing happened,” the ministry said in a statement.
The statement said that Lo, a one-star general, was indicted by the Prosecutors’ Office of the Military High Court in May on charges that included violating his duty to loyally serve the nation.
After reviewing all of the evidence, the Military High Court said nothing was found that indicated any of the military’s devices used to protect Taiwan’s secrets was -delivered to China.
Local media reports that said “Lo Hsien-che sold a scrambler to communist China,” were not factual, the statement said.
The ministry said that all equipment related to military secrets was subject to a stringent military communication security management system.
Under the system, security guards and secret units conduct regular inventory checks on all such equipment.
Asked whether the intelligence Lo allegedly sold to China made it possible for the military’s codes to be broken, ministry spokesman Lo Shao-ho (羅紹和) said the ministry was not in a position to comment on the case because it was still being tried in court.
Lo Hsien-che was arrested in January on charges of spying for China. He is believed to be the highest-ranking Taiwanese military officer to have been charged with espionage charges in nearly five decades.
On May 20, the military court asked for life imprisonment for Lo, who reportedly confessed to spying.
The Chinese-language China Times reported yesterday that investigators found that Lo reported the loss of a scrambler while posted in Thailand, leading the paper to conclude: “It is almost certain that Lo ‘sold’ the scrambler to communist China for a high price.”
Because access to the scrambler would allow the user to break Taiwan’s military codes, the newspaper said that if China possesses such a device, it would pose a grave threat to national security.
According to the media report, an intelligence source revealed that in the espionage war between Taiwan and China, Taipei’s most valuable intelligence asset was not its plans to defend the Taiwan Strait, but the scramblers used to ensure communications remain secure.
“If such a device was sold, it would have gone for an incredibly high price. The buyer would have just given a blank check,” the China Times article said, adding that the scrambler Lo allegedly sold to China was an “An Ping No. 6” developed by the Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology — a military-run research institute.
That device is part of a series ranging from An Ping No. 4 to An Ping No. 8, where the higher the number the higher the level of classified data.
The article also said that An Ping-series scramblers are used on fax machines to encrypt documents.
The An Tung series is used on cellphones and the An Hsuan system on computers, it said.
One major question in the minds of ministry and national security officials is how Lo could have been promoted to the position of general rather than being disciplined after he reported having lost such an important device, it said.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their
RSS