The Supreme Court on Thursday finalized a ruling sentencing a father-son duo to eight years in prison each for espionage.
The court upheld a previous High Court ruling convicting Huang Lung-lung (黃龍瀧) and his son, Huang Sheng-yu (黃聖峪), for contravening National Security Act (國家安全法) provisions by funding and developing an organization for China and collecting confidential documents in exchange for monetary rewards.
Two air force members, Su Kuan-ying (蘇冠穎) and Yeh Hsin-liang (葉鑫亮), were also found guilty of agreeing to work in the spy network.
Photo: Reuters
Judges upheld a seven-year sentence for Su and a six-year term for Yeh.
Su and Yeh were convicted for contravening Article 20 of the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法), which prohibits military personnel from disclosing or delivering documents, information or records of a secret nature concerning the nation’s defense. They were also convicted of taking bribes in contravention of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
The verdict is final and cannot be appealed.
“The Huang father and son were oblivious to the needs for safeguarding national security, and recruited military personnel to develop an organization for the enemy force... They collaborated with Chinese intelligence officials to obtain high-level confidential military material in exchange for monetary rewards,” the court said.
“Their spying lasted for about five years, resulting in serious harm to national security. Therefore, the Huangs are to be sentenced to eight years,” it said.
Investigators found the Huangs, originally based in Tainan, started doing business in China’s Fujian Province in April 2015, where they were approached by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Fujian branch office member Zhong Dongsheng (鍾東生) — who is also a Chinese intelligence officer — and TAO Guangzhou office member Zhang Xiaofeng (張曉楓) in 2019, the court said in its verdict.
Zhong and Zhang persuaded the Huangs to recruit Taiwanese military members willing to acquire military secrets, promising cash rewards.
From March 2017 to August 2021, they approached the younger Huang’s former sports teammates and classmates, air force personnel Yeh and Su, to obtain military materials, while two others, surnamed Chin (金) and Hsieh (謝), refused to join the spy network.
Investigators found China had channeled money to the Huangs to fund the network, which collected information on the annual Han Kuang exercise, took photos inside military bases, and reported officer names, identification numbers and unit information.
During High Court trials, judges ordered the money provided by Chinese handlers to be confiscated — NT$1.26 million (US$39,449) for Huang Sheng-yu, NT$456,000 given to the elder Huang, of which NT$210,000 the Huangs gave Su in rewards and NT$100,000 they handed to Yeh.
Additional reporting by Jake Chung
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