Two retired air force officers, including a former major general, were yesterday morning released on bail after overnight questioning by prosecutors about their alleged involvement in a Chinese espionage ring.
Retired air force major general Chien Yao-tung (錢耀棟) and retired lieutenant colonel Wei Hsien-yi (魏先儀) were released on bail of NT$200,000 and NT$300,000 respectively after being formally named as suspects in the investigation.
The Chinese-language Mirror Media last month reported that prosecutors were investigating allegations that a Hong Kong businessman, surnamed Tse (謝), had tried to organize a spy ring in Taiwan under instructions from the Chinese Ministry of State Security.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Tse is suspected to have cultivated relationships with multiple retired military officers, including Chien and Wei, and arranged dinners and banquets at which they were encouraged to invite other active duty service members, the report said.
The report added that former deputy minister of national defense Chang Che-ping (張哲平) was being investigated for attending several dinners with members of the ring, as well as for allegations that his wife had traveled to Hong Kong at their expense.
Chang, the head of National Defense University, said his wife had paid for the trip herself.
He had followed military ethics guidelines at all social events and in interactions with classmates, retired colleagues and friends, he said, adding that he “absolutely committed no illegalities in speech or action.”
Chang has not been publicly named as a suspect in the case. He served as deputy minister of national defense from 2019 until the end of June, when he was transferred to his current post at the university.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday ordered a national security team at the Investigation Bureau to search the homes of Chien and Wei, and to summon the pair for questioning as defendants in the case.
Following overnight interrogations, the prosecutors’ office issued bail terms for the two men based on their suspected contraventions of the National Security Act (國家安全法).
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS