A retired air force captain and six active air force and navy officers were indicted in Kaohsiung on Thursday on charges of spying for China.
All seven were charged with violating the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) by the High Prosecutors’ Office in Kaohsiung.
Prosecutors and investigators launched a probe in January, detaining a retired air force captain and three active military officers on Jan. 4, while three other active lieutenant commanders were released on bail ranging from NT$100,000 to NT$200,000.
Photo: Pao Chien-hsin, Taipei Times
The detainees included a retired captain surnamed Liu (劉), who is at the center of the investigation, an active commander surnamed Sun (孫), and two lieutenant commanders surnamed Liu (劉) and Kung (龔) respectively.
Following their indictment on Thursday, the court ordered the four individuals to be held incommunicado starting on Friday.
The three others involved in the case remain on bail.
The retired Liu began conducting business in China after leaving the air force in 2013, the investigation found.
He was recruited by China to serve as a spy and, using his military connections, recruit active military officers in the navy and air force to join the spying activities, prosecutors said.
The retired Liu recruited at least six officers into his spy ring and received “rewards” of NT$200,000 to NT$700,000 for each individual he brought into the fold, they said.
The money was channeled through a shell company, and he received bonuses of NT$30,000 to NT$100,000 if his benefactors were supplied with Taiwanese military information, they said.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
RSS