Three former officials from the Military Intelligence Bureau were yesterday sentenced to at least 10 months in prison after being found guilty of developing a spy ring and passing secret intelligence to China after their retirement.
The Taipei District Court sentenced retired colonel Chang Chao-jan (張超然) to 18 months in prison, while retired major general Yueh Chih-chung (岳志忠) and retired colonel Chou Tien-tzu (周天慈) were sentenced to 10 months and 14 months respectively.
The verdict can be appealed.
Photo: Chien Jung-feng, Taipei Times
Another retired colonel implicated in the case, Wang Ta-wang (王大旺), was found not guilty and acquitted due to a lack of evidence, the court said.
The four former military officers in February 2021 were indicted by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on charges of contravening the National Intelligence Service Act (國家情報工作法) and the National Security Act (國家安全法).
The charges included leaking information about Taiwan’s intelligence sources, organizations and personnel, and developing a spy ring on behalf of China.
Prosecutors alleged that Chang, Yueh and Chou were recruited by Chinese intelligence, which offered business incentives, cash rewards and free trips, after their retirement.
Chang was recruited when he traveled to China to help a former colleague who was arrested by the Chinese authorities in 1999, the indictment said.
He was then instructed to arrange trips for other retired military intelligence officers to visit China. These people would either be asked or “forced” to provide sensitive information.
Yueh, who was in charge of China-related intelligence work when working at the bureau, was recruited by Chang in 2012 when he wanted to visit relatives in China, but was worried about being arrested by the Chinese authorities because of his former work, prosecutors said.
Chang assured Yueh that he could return to Taiwan safely, as long as he gave intelligence information to a Chinese intelligence officer, which Yueh agreed to do.
Meanwhile, Chou was said to have begun working for the Chinese authorities after becoming involved in a real-estate dispute in China’s Hainan Province that year.
Wang was also suspected of having been recruited through Chang, and gave information about his colleagues during a trip to China, prosecutors said.
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
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
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