Four defendants charged in a national security case for allegedly working for China and infiltrating the military were acquitted yesterday.
The High Court’s Kaohsiung branch handed down not guilty verdicts for retired naval rear admiral Sun Hai-tao (孫海濤), retired army colonel Liu Wan-li (劉萬禮), writer Chu Kang-ming (祝康明) and defendant Kuei Ya-ti (歸亞蒂) on grounds of insufficient evidence.
They were initially indicted on charges of contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and other offenses related to contravening election laws.
Photo: Pao Chien-hsin, Taipei Times
Officials from the High Prosecutors’ Office’s Kaohsiung branch yesterday said they would appeal the ruling.
The four were accused of receiving financial assistance from Beijing, after traveling to China, where they allegedly agreed to work with Chinese officials to develop spy networks in Taiwan.
Prosecutors said the four enticed active and retired military officers to join the network by taking them on junket trips to China and the US, funded and arranged by the Chinese United Front Work Department. They then allegedly recruited officers to form spy networks, obtain classified materials and assist in Chinese propaganda work and “united front” tactics.
Raids were conducted in late 2023, with prosecutors saying that the four received funds from China to purchase gifts, organize banquets, and bribe military personnel and friends to vote for particular election candidates, in contravention of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法).
Academics who specialize in legal affairs yesterday said the ruling was a blow to the morale of police and prosecutors, adding that it was tantamount to encouraging proxies of the Chinese Communist Party.
Lo Cheng-chung (羅承宗), a professor at the National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology’s Graduate Institute of Science and Technology Law, said that while the system requires judges to take national security classes, the ruling demonstrated there still exists a lack of awareness regarding national security threats among judges.
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu
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