Lawmakers and a researcher on Tuesday called for military trials to be reinstated during peacetime to help deter espionage in the military after an army colonel was charged with spying for China.
Hsiang Te-en (向德恩) was charged with corruption, pledging allegiance to China and receiving payment from Chinese operatives to work as a spy.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the Institute of National Defense and Security Research, said that military espionage poses a serious threat to national security, and reinstating military trials during peacetime for active personnel would improve troop discipline and deter spying.
Hsiang is only the latest in a spate of espionage cases targeting Taiwan’s military. In January, three members of the New Party were charged with espionage for allegedly receiving Chinese funding. In June, former Naval Education, Training and Doctrine Command General Division commander Chang Pei-ning (張培凝) was sentenced to nearly four years in prison on espionage-related charges.
It is often said that Taiwanese found guilty of spying for China get off far more leniently than their counterparts in China would for the same offenses. Four years in prison would hardly serve as a deterrent for someone who faces the possibility of enriching themselves substantially by cooperating with the Chinese Communist Party. Convicted spies would also likely face a hero’s welcome if they moved to China after being released from a Taiwanese prison.
Reinstating military trials would be a more effective deterrent, as Article 17 of the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法) says that a person convicted of “committing an act of espionage for an enemy or rendering aid to an enemy’s spy” is subject to a punishment of “death or imprisonment for life.”
Of course, the effectiveness of this deterrent depends on the military’s resolve to enforce it with a heavy hand, and the degree to which corruption has already infiltrated the military.
If lawmakers do not allow the military to deal with its own traitors, then they should amend civilian laws to increase the penalties for spying for China. Politicians and armed forces personnel should have restrictions imposed on them upon assuming duty. For example, it should be expected that all military personnel with authority over subordinates or access to sensitive information, as well as politicians and government personnel, should be prohibited from receiving funds sourced in China, or from traveling to China for five years after leaving their post.
National security concerns trump personal privacy, and such personnel should accept that their banking activities and communications would be monitored to ensure adherence with regulations.
There should be no confusion that China is a military threat and a national security concern, so no public employee or military official has a justifiable reason to have contact with entities in China. Given the opportunity, China would immediately occupy Taiwan, dismantle its democratic institutions and impose limitations on speech, media and personal freedoms. That is why it is imperative that convicted traitors be dealt with severely and without impunity.
China and Russia are known for turning a nation’s democracy against itself. Chinese agents occupy spaces of discourse to sow confusion and discontent, infiltrate protests to intimidate and silence rights advocates, and use political freedoms to develop parties that seek to undermine social stability by sowing confusion and conflating facts.
They take advantage of the comparatively lenient judicial systems that typify democracies. This is why lawmakers must close loopholes and cut off Chinese access to people in Taiwan’s democratic institutions.
Laws must be amended to close the door on Chinese espionage and infiltration.
Chinese actor Alan Yu (于朦朧) died after allegedly falling from a building in Beijing on Sept. 11. The actor’s mysterious death was tightly censored on Chinese social media, with discussions and doubts about the incident quickly erased. Even Hong Kong artist Daniel Chan’s (陳曉東) post questioning the truth about the case was automatically deleted, sparking concern among overseas Chinese-speaking communities about the dark culture and severe censorship in China’s entertainment industry. Yu had been under house arrest for days, and forced to drink with the rich and powerful before he died, reports said. He lost his life in this vicious
In South Korea, the medical cosmetic industry is fiercely competitive and prices are low, attracting beauty enthusiasts from Taiwan. However, basic medical risks are often overlooked. While sharing a meal with friends recently, I heard one mention that his daughter would be going to South Korea for a cosmetic skincare procedure. I felt a twinge of unease at the time, but seeing as it was just a casual conversation among friends, I simply reminded him to prioritize safety. I never thought that, not long after, I would actually encounter a patient in my clinic with a similar situation. She had
A recent trio of opinion articles in this newspaper reflects the growing anxiety surrounding Washington’s reported request for Taiwan to shift up to 50 percent of its semiconductor production abroad — a process likely to take 10 years, even under the most serious and coordinated effort. Simon H. Tang (湯先鈍) issued a sharp warning (“US trade threatens silicon shield,” Oct. 4, page 8), calling the move a threat to Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” which he argues deters aggression by making Taiwan indispensable. On the same day, Hsiao Hsi-huei (蕭錫惠) (“Responding to US semiconductor policy shift,” Oct. 4, page 8) focused on
George Santayana wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This article will help readers avoid repeating mistakes by examining four examples from the civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forces and the Republic of China (ROC) forces that involved two city sieges and two island invasions. The city sieges compared are Changchun (May to October 1948) and Beiping (November 1948 to January 1949, renamed Beijing after its capture), and attempts to invade Kinmen (October 1949) and Hainan (April 1950). Comparing and contrasting these examples, we can learn how Taiwan may prevent a war with
RSS