Four people were yesterday charged with contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) for allegedly leaking classified information about then-president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) visit to South and Central America in 2023, and other classified secrets to China.
The prosecution is seeking sentences of between four and 15 years imprisonment for the accused: former diabolo trainer Lu Chi-hsien (魯紀賢), and retired military personnel Ko Tsang-hao (葛倉豪), Chen Min-chi (陳旻琪) and Lin Chu-han (林楚?).
Lu, through Lin and Chen, allegedly obtained multiple classified air force documents, including a psychological education program for the Air Force Songshan Base Command on how the air force manages risks, and a compilation of the 2023 air force risk management and crisis management report, the indictment said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Lu also allegedly instructed Ko to photograph the list of airports Tsai was to visit and deliver that information to China, it said.
The prosecution indicted the four suspects, and sought 15 years imprisonment for for Lu, eight years for Lin, seven years for Chen and four years for Ko.
Lu, Ko, Chen and Lin were in July found guilty of contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) for developing an underground spy organization for China.
Separately, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency yesterday reported that a retired South Korean navy commander, known only as “A,” had been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for leaking submarine blueprints to Taiwan without government approval.
“A” had in 2019 made a deal with Taiwan valued at US$110 million and provided the nation with torpedo launch tube blueprints from Hanwha Ocean Co, Yonhap reported.
The blueprints were reverse-engineered and supplementary or modified designs based on the original technology, “A” said.
The Masan Branch of the Changwon District Court dismissed his statements, saying Taiwan did not own the intellectual property rights to the reverse-engineered blueprints and that export of the original blueprints required authorization.
South Korean law states exports of items considered strategic goods must be approved by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, or relevant administrative agencies, while items considered military goods must be authorized by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, its national arms sales regulator.
“This crime is a matter that could pose a significant threat to South Korea’s security, as strategic technology was exported without the approval of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, and the export partner is Taiwan, which has a tense relationship with neighbors in East Asia,” the ruling said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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