The High Court on Tuesday gave retired air force Lieutenant Colonel Yuan Hsiao-feng (袁曉風) 12 life sentences for passing classified military information to China over a period of six years, adding to a list of spy cases to hit the nation in recent years.
A court official said yesterday that Yuan passed unspecified military secrets to China between 2001 and 2007 through Chen Wen-jen (陳文仁), a former colleague in the air force.
Using flash drives, Yuan and Chen are alleged to have provided classified information to China on 12 separate occasions. Yuan, who was deployed at an air force ground control unit, was found guilty on 12 counts of leaking secrets, each of which carries a mandatory life term, the court official said.
Photo: Yang Kuo-wen, Taipei Times
Yuan, who retired in 2007, was reportedly paid a total of NT$7.8 million (US$269,000) by China for his efforts, though the High Court would not confirm the figure.
Chen received a lighter sentence of 20 years imprisonment, as he had already retired from the military at the time the crimes were committed.
Chen, who retired as a lieutenant in 1992, was operating a business in China and had a Chinese spouse. He was recruited by the Second Department of the People’s Liberation Army General Staff Headquarters, which is in charge of collecting military information. He is then believed to have recruited Yuan after returning to Taiwan and discovering that the latter was still in the air force.
The retired lieutenant is also believed to have collected intelligence on Taiwan’s combat aircraft with assistance from another officer.
Sources said that after retiring Yuan continued to seek access to intelligence through former colleagues.
The pair was detained last year after two junior colleagues they had tried to recruit in August 2011 reported the matter to the armed forces’ internal security, prompting a counter-intelligence probe.
The verdict can be appealed.
The case is one of many instances in which Chinese agents have recruited retired military officers of a certain rank who then rely on their connections with active officers in the armed forces to collect classified information.
The principal targets of Chinese intelligence collection in Taiwan are believed to be the “Po Sheng” C4ISR modernization effort, the Anyu-4 air defense system and the surveillance radar program, which revolves around the long-range early-warning radar on Leshan (樂山), Hsinchu County, which was launched on Friday.
In February last year, an information control officer assigned to an air defense base in northern Taipei, surnamed Chiang (蔣), was arrested in connection with another espionage case. Chiang’s uncle, who operated a business in China, was believed to have served as a conduit.
Earlier this week, the Ministry of National Defense confirmed that a rear admiral had come under investigation as part of an espionage case involving the possible leak of navy secrets. According to reports, Admiral Hsu Chung-hua (徐中華), commander of the 146th Attack Squadron based in Magong, Penghu, had been transferred from his position in connection with the case, which emerged last year after Lieutenant Colonel Chang Chih-hsin (張祉鑫), formerly a commander in charge of political warfare at the navy’s Naval Meteorology Oceanography Office, was arrested in a raid.
The 146th includes Chengkung-class frigates armed with the Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship missile, among others. Analysts believe Chang’s actions may have compromised the operation of Taiwan’s submarines.
Also this week, the ministry announced that Army Major General Wu Chin-chun (吳金駿), reportedly a trusted aide to Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱), had been temporarily reassigned as investigators look into a possible connection between a relative of Wu and the Chang case, which has been described as possibly one of the most damaging espionage cases in recent years.
In January 2011, the Supreme Military Court sentenced army general Lo Hsien-che (羅賢哲) to life in prison for passing classified information to China since 2004 after being recruited in Thailand.
Additional reporting by Stacy Hsu and AFP
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
ENHANCING EFFICIENCY: The apron can accommodate 16 airplanes overnight at Taoyuan airport while work on the third runway continues, the transport minister said A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning. Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS