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.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
RSS