New Taipei City prosecutors have charged a retired air force commander with helping China infiltrate Taiwan’s military and recruit officers in breach of the National Security Act (國家安全法).
After retiring from the air force in 2004, former wing commander Tu Yung-hsin (杜永心), 67, went to work in China, the prosecutors said on Monday.
Tu attempted to recruit Taiwanese military officers to work for China and collaborate with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the event of a war, they said.
Shortly after Tu went to China, he was approached by a man known as “Mr A,” a section chief at the PLA’s General Political Department, prosecutors said, adding that the agency became the Political Work Department of the Chinese Central Military Commission after major restructuring in 2016.
Tu allegedly agreed to work for Mr A, after being offered money and gifts, and promised to recruit officers and set up a clandestine network within the military.
After returning to Taiwan, Tu focused on recruiting his former colleagues and acquaintances, one of whom was an army lieutenant colonel surnamed Tsai (蔡), prosecutors said.
Tu allegedly tried to recruit Tsai in 2011, when he was the commander of a combined arms battalion, by offering him money, expensive wine and tea, and all-expense-paid trips to China and Malaysia.
Tsai told investigators that Tu wanted him to go on the trips to meet high-ranking Chinese officials, but he declined.
Tu allegedly said the Chinese Ministry of State Security was focused on penetrating Taiwan’s military and political structures, and that the recruited officers would not need to conduct espionage work, but would be “moles” who would rise in rank and be activated when needed.
Tsai said that Tu wanted him to switch allegiance to the People’s Republic of China, and asked to film him saying: “In the future, Taiwan will unify with China. If war breaks out between the two sides, I will not fight, and will cooperate with the Chinese motherland.”
Tsai secretly recorded his conversations with Tu and kept the money and gifts given to him, which he handed over as evidence when prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau began to investigate the case in September.
Tu has denied he was working for China, saying that he was just boasting when socializing with Tsai.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS