Lieutenant Chien Ching-kuo (錢經國), indicted by Greater Kaohsiung Prosecutors’ Office for allegedly violating the Statute for Punishment of Betrayal of Military Secrets (妨害軍機治罪條例), will remain in custody after approval was granted in an ongoing investigation, Greater Kaohsiung District Court said on Thursday.
Chien, 40, allegedly came into contact with the Chinese Ministry of State Security via an introduction by a retired military officer — whose name was withheld, but who is currently under investigation — and was paid by China to provide military secrets, later joining the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and recruiting members for the party within Taiwan.
Chien has denied any wrongdoing in court.
The indictment said that Chien, to facilitate his travels and trading of secrets, founded a company in Greater Kaohsiung, and treated former colleagues and current enlisted men, along with their family members, to trips to Southeast Asia in a bid to lure them into to the party.
Chien had allegedly recruited 10 or more people from military backgrounds to join the CCP, with some allegedly leaking military secrets to China, the indictment said.
It added that Chien had allegedly brought classified data on the navy’s plans to send ships to protect fishermen off the coast of Somalia to Hong Kong to give to the Chinese.
The navy had considered sending ships to the Gulf of Aden to protect Taiwanese fishing boats after numerous incidents of Taiwanese boats being harassed or captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia. However, the plan fell through due to both internal and international political concerns, as well as logistical difficulties.
Chien’s alleged operation was bought to light in September, when the person in charge of the investigation suspected Chien might be traveling to China to hand over military secrets and asked for a warrant to search his residence.
The Greater Kaohsiung Prosecutors’ Office and the military searched Chien’s residence before arresting him, with evidence found there allegedly implicating two other people: the navy’s former Meteorological and Oceanographic Office’s Political Warfare division chief, Commander Chang Chih-hsin (張祉鑫) and former Navy Fleet Command Headquarters Staff Lieutenant Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who shares the same name as the former president.
The Ministry of National Defense charged all three with spying and accepting bribes.
It is still looking into whether Chien leaked confidential secrets on Taiwan’s submarine force.
The Greater Kaohisung District Court approved a request to detain Chien and suspend his visiting rights on the grounds that he had attempted to fabricate his testimony and flee the country.
Additional reporting by Pao Chien-hsin
A free exhibition aimed at teaching the public about air-raid shelters and basic emergency personal protection skills today opened on the concourse level of the Taipei MRT's Ximen Station. The event, organized by the National Police Agency, aims to raise awareness about disaster preparedness ahead of nationwide air raid drills scheduled from July 15 to 18, which are part of broader urban resilience exercises. The exhibition outlines the recommended actions people should take depending on whether they are indoors, commuting or outdoors when air-raid sirens sound. It also teaches people how to equip air-raid shelters and pack emergency "go bags," with displays
A first shipment of five tons of Taiwan tilapia was sent from Tainan to Singapore on Wednesday, following an order valued at NT$600,000 (US$20,500) placed with a company in the city. The products, including frozen whole fish and pre- cooked fish belly, were dispatched from Jiangjun Fishing Harbor, where a new aquatic processing and logistics center is under construction. At the launch, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) called the move a “breakthrough,” marking Taiwan’s expansion into the Singaporean tilapia market. Taiwan’s tilapia exports have traditionally focused on the United States, Canada, and the Middle East, Huang said, adding that the new foothold in
An electric bus charging facility at Taipei Metro’s Beitou Depot officially opened yesterday with 22 charging bays to serve the city’s 886 electric buses. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) told a ceremony to mark the opening of the facility that the city aims to fully electrify its bus fleet by 2030. The number of electric buses has grown from about 650 last year to 886 this year and is expected to surpass 1,000 by the end of the year, Chiang said. Setting up the charging station in a metro depot optimizes land and energy use, as the metro uses power mainly during the
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)