A retired Taiwanese general and another senior officer were indicted yesterday for alleged involvement in developing a spying network for China.
The major general, identified by his family name, Chien (錢), and a retired lieutenant colonel surnamed Wei (魏) were charged with contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said.
The men were accused of assisting a Hong Konger surnamed Tse (謝) working for an organization in China’s Guangdong Province that is linked to the Chinese Central Military Commission, the office said in a statement.
Tse had visited Taiwan under the guise of doing business and recruited some retired officers by offering free meals and trips, attempting to use them to reach out to those on active duty, it said.
Among others, Chien and Wei tried unsuccessfully to recruit Chang Che-ping (張哲平), a top air force official who was deputy minister of defense from July 2019 to June last year, it said.
“Both defendants have the intention of endangering national security and developing a network for Chinese military institutions,” it said.
Chang, who is an adviser to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), was probed last year for his suspected connections with the case and was later named as a witness rather than a defendant.
Tse stopped traveling to Taiwan after the case came to light and is on the nation’s wanted list.
One of Taiwan’s worst past espionage scandals involved an army general who headed an intelligence unit, who was sentenced to life for spying for China in 2011.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
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The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
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