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.
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
EXCUSES: Beijing is using government and research vessels as a pretext to harass the nation and enter its EEZ, and engage in ‘hegemonic expansion,’ the coast guard said The Coast Guard Administration yesterday said it drove away Chinese oceanographic research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 22 (向陽紅33) from restricted waters after warning it that it was in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Chinese vessel entered restricted waters off the coast of Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳) at 11:35pm on Thursday, the coast guard said, adding that it dispatched the Lanyu patrol vessel and the boat PP-10077 to shadow the Chinese ship and issue radio warnings ordering it to leave. China has no sovereignty over waters off Taiwan’s east coast, Lanyu’s crew told Xiang Yang Hong 22 over the radio, and demanded
Several major reservoirs are estimated to have received 590 million tonnes of water inflow from June 4 to this morning, with storage levels at Wushantou Reservoir exceeding 50 percent and Zengwen Reservoir approaching 30 percent as of 9am today, data from the Water Resources Agency showed. Of the estimated 590 million tonnes, 450 million have already been stored in reservoirs, the data showed. As of 9am today, Baoshan Reservoir storage levels reached 100 percent, while Baoshan Second Reservoir, Yongheshan Reservoir and Techi Reservoir all exceeded 90 percent, data on the Water Resources Agency’s Web site showed. In addition, the Shimen Reservoir is at
BAIT AND SWITCH: Allowing KMT-run counties to sell to China while the threat of abrupt cancelations hangs overhead is another form of coercion, officials said Beijing is using agricultural purchase offers announced during the Straits Forum to deepen Taiwan’s dependence on the Chinese market, a Taiwanese official said yesterday as they criticized the Taitung County commissioner’s participation in the initiative. During the Straits Forum held in Xiamen on Saturday, Chinese officials announced a sales and purchase agreement for agricultural products from some counties led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴), who was barred from attending the event in person by the Mainland Affairs Council, participated via video. Under the agreement, China would purchase atemoyas, pomeloes, tea and grouper harvested in Taitung,
RSS