Two air force officers accused of spying for China, retired Colonel Ke Chi-hsien (葛季賢) and Lieutenant Colonel Lou Wen-ching (樓文卿), were released on bail of NT$200,000 (US$6,4 02) last night after being taken for questioning at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
After admitting to having been recruited as members of a spy ring and passing on classified military information to China, Ke and Lou were granted bail and released, but prohibited from exiting the country, prosecutors said.
The two men were transferred to the custody of Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday afternoon, after being detained and questioned on Thursday by officers from the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau (MJIB) section in charge of national security matters.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Ke and Lou are suspected of espionage activities in working for a Chinese intelligence agency as part of a spy ring operating in Taiwan, which was exposed last year in a case involving former Chinese military officer Zhen Xiaojiang (鎮小江), who is alleged to have recruited retired Taiwanese military officers.
Information from the MJIB and other judiciary agencies said Zhen set up at least six separate operating teams of covert agents, some of whom went on to recruit their own subordinate agents.
The Chinese spy ring penetrated Taiwan’s army and air force, and also involved one civilian named Lee Huang-yu (李寰宇), who operated a nightclub in Kaohsiung City which was frequented by military personnel, the investigation bureau said.
The recent arrest of Ke and Lou highlighted how deep the Zhen spy ring has penetrated into the ROC Air Force Academy in Kaohsiung, which was raided and searched by the authorities on Thursday, pundits said.
The two officers who were arrested were experienced jet fighter pilots, with Ke a former deputy commander of the academy, while Lou was in active service as a pilot instructor at the academy.
Ke flew a US-made F-104 Starfighter during the “Taiwan Strait Crisis” with the firing of Chinese missiles in August 1996. Experiencing a fuel-line problem, which led to the Starfighter jet crashing in waters near the frontline island of Matsu (馬祖), Ke bailed out using an ejector seat and was later rescued.
In an incident on July 2000, Ke was a squadron member of four F-104 Starfighters flying in China’s airspace over Zhejiang Province as escorts for a military reconnaissance mission.
According to reports, they were met by a squadron of Chinese Shenyang J-8 intercepter fighters, where Ke and his fellow pilots survived the dogfight pursuit and returned safely to their base in Taiwan.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
RSS