Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative candidate Justin Wu (吳崢) and political commentator Lee Zheng-hao (李正皓) yesterday filed suit against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君), accusing her of treason for allegedly leaking classified defense material related to Taiwan’s submarine program.
Wu and Wang filed the suit at the High Prosecutors’ Office in Taipei, accompanied by attorney Kuang Bo-teng (匡伯騰).
Ma should be investigated under Item 2 of Article 109 of the Criminal Code, they said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The item states that “any person disclosing or delivering to a foreign state or to its agent a document, plan, information, or another thing specified in the preceding paragraph shall be sentenced to imprisonment not less than three years but not more than ten years.”
Lee accused Ma and her aides of compiling more than 3,000 files and voice recordings relating to the Indigenous Defense Submarine program and passing them on to the Korean Mission in Taipei.
Ma confirmed in a recent public post that the materials were mailed to the mission in January last year.
She said she also mailed them to the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau, in an attempt to prove her accusations against retired navy captain Kuo Hsi (郭璽).
Kuo was a consultant for the submarine program, and had business links with foreign contractors
“In January 2022, all these files and recordings were not made public... but Ma provided these to South Korean officials, leading to six SI Innotec technicians who got arrested when they returned home,” Lee said.
If Ma and her aides had an issue with Kuo, she could have asked the judiciary to handle the investigation, as it can contact Interpol, Lee said, adding that Ma should not have reported the allegations directly to South Korean officials.
Wu said that as Ma sits on the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee she has access and review of all the core technology and top secrets relating to Taiwan’s Indigenous Defense Submarine program.
Ma said that “the case is now under judicial investigation, and the answer will be clear soon.”
“If needed, I will file a lawsuit against Lee and Wu for making false accusations,” she said.
“Lee and Wu have filed their case, but [should] sue many other people, because from the materials I provided, there are other men who contravened the treason law,” she said.
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New