Two former members of the military on Wednesday were found guilty of attempting to gather classified materials and passing them on to China.
The High Court’s Taichung Branch sentenced Lin Ying-kuan (林盈寬) and Tseng Chi-hung (曾啟鴻) to six months and five months respectively.
Both men had training from the military’s political warfare department and had been reserve officers in the Armed Forces Reserve Command of Miaoli County.
According to the ruling, after leaving the army, Lin worked for a private company that transferred him to Wuxi City in China’s Jiangsu Province in 2012, where he worked as head of building security at a manufacturing plant.
After retiring, Tseng opened an information technology business, court documents said.
Later in 2012, Lin got in touch with Tseng, seeking to gather classified military documents related to the active service personnel defense mobilization program, the ruling said.
Tseng contacted a fellow officer surnamed Chen (陳), a section chief for the Armed Forces Reserve Commmand in Yunlin County, for more information, the ruling said.
Chen, finding the request suspicious, refused and reported the incident to his superiors, which led to the investigation of the case.
Lin defended his actions by saying that he needed the documents to set up an organizational plan for managing company staff at the Wuxi plant, not to pass them on to Chinese government agencies, the ruling read.
The judge found both guilty of offenses against the external security of the state, a spy charge under Article 114 of the Criminal Code.
As their sentences may be commuted to fines, some online commenters said the ruling was too lenient.
“These two men broke the law and violated the military’s code of honor. Allowing them to pay fines and not having to serve jail time is letting them get away too easily,” one surnamed Liu (劉) wrote.
“They are traitors to our nation, they should be locked up,” another surnamed Wang (王) wrote.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese