Ten people were indicted yesterday in a military espionage case allegedly involving Chinese agents, Taiwanese gang members and a temple.
Eight active-duty or retired military personnel were indicted on charges that they gave classified material to Chinese agents and other acts that contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a court filing.
The key figures in the case are Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨), a 31-year-old gang member, and a retired officer surnamed Peng (彭), it said.
Photo copied by Chiu Chun-fu, Taipei Times
Lee is a deputy chapter head of the Sun Alliance, a branch of the Heavenly Way Alliance, and chairwoman of Rueiyao Temple (瑞?宮) in New Taipei City’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), prosecutors said.
An assistant of Lee, surnamed Chen (陳), was also indicted.
In June last year, Lee led a delegation to Macau for a religious exchange, prosecutors said, adding that Chinese intelligence officials approached her in Macau, offering money and other enticements.
Upon returning to Taiwan, Lee used her network from her work at the temple and her gang to recruit military personnel, with Peng being the first, the court filing said.
Peng played an important role, as his military connections helped him recruit an active-duty soldier surnamed Liu (劉) and expand the network from there, it said.
The active-duty personnel were asked to obtain classified material to give to the Chinese agents through Lee, with payments of up to NT$150,000 for each item, the filing said.
The documents included flight plans, work schedules and attendance records, it said.
“Each of the recruited military personnel were asked to submit copies of their military service ID card to confirm their name, rank and unit,” the filing said. “Once the IDs were deemed genuine by the Chinese officials, they would receive about NT$30,000.”
“Each recruit had to film themselves in their military uniform and holding a Chinese national flag while promising to surrender to China if a war were to break out,” it said.
The videos were sent to the Chinese officials, it said.
The Ministry of National Defense said in a statement that the eight indicted military personnel “were lured by money to engage in espionage — betraying the nation.”
“They must be condemned in the strongest terms and must receive severe punishment in accordance with the law,” the ministry said.
“China’s pervasive efforts to infiltrate Taiwan mean that military personnel must be alert at all times to safeguard national security and enhance awareness about classified information,” it said.
The National Security Bureau and the Political Warfare Bureau have been investigating the case since October last year, it said.
The ministry coordinated with military police units and the Criminal Investigation Bureau to surveil the suspects, it added.
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