An academic yesterday urged the government to show goodwill toward a Chinese spy to ease cross-strait tension after a ruling that sentenced the Chinese national to 14 months in prison for breaches of the National Security Act (國家安全法).
The Taipei District Court found Zhou Hongxu (周泓旭), a 29-year-old Chinese national who was studying for an MBA in Taipei, guilty of attempting to bribe a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official in exchange for classified information.
The sentence can be appealed.
The ruling came at a sensitive time in the wake of a Monday court hearing in China of Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), who pleaded guilty to a charge of subversion of state power six months after his arrest.
Chieh Chung (揭仲), a senior assistant research fellow at the National Policy Foundation, a think tank affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), called on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration to use the opportunity to show goodwill to Beijing.
Chieh said the courts should show some leniency, as Zhou is not in the military and his attempt was unsuccessful.
Zhou should be given parole after serving half of his sentence, Chieh said, citing regulations.
“Zhou has already been detained since March, meaning that he might only have to serve a few months before filing for parole,” Chieh said.
“The government could make use of the opportunity to deport Zhou to China after releasing him on parole as a gesture of goodwill to the Chinese government,” he said.
The case has already seriously affected cross-strait academic exchanges for several months, Chieh said.
The move could signify that President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration is willing to resume cross-strait exchanges and it might also facilitate Lee’s prompt release, he added.
Zhou came to Taiwan five years ago as a student enrolled at National Chengchi University.
He briefly returned to China in August last year before returning as a management investor.
He was detained incommunicado in March after the official he attempted to bribe informed the authorities of his actions.
He was indicted in July.
Taiwan Thinktank researcher Tung Li-wen (董立文) said that he thinks the spy case has nothing to do with Lee’s arrest in China
Some believe the Lee case is a retaliatory move following Zhou’s arrest in Taipei.
“Unlike Zhou, Lee was not arrested on espionage charges,” Tung said.
He said the Zhou case would have little effect on the big picture of cross-strait relations.
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