Two current and former air force members were indicted at the end of last year on suspicion of selling classified information to China, the Taichung branch of the High Prosecutors’ Office announced today, after Chinese-language media broke the story earlier in the day.
The case centers on a former air force pilot surnamed Shi (史), who was allegedly recruited by Chinese intelligence operatives after retiring, and an active-duty controller he allegedly recruited surnamed Hsu (許), the office said.
After the investigation concluded in December last year, prosecutors indicted Shi and Hsu on contraventions of the National Security Act (國安法) and other laws, it said.
Photo: EPA-EFE / Ministry of National Defense
The closed trial is ongoing at the Taichung branch of the Taiwan High Court, it added.
Shi, who retired from the air force in 2008, was allegedly approached by Chinese intelligence agents to recruit members of Taiwan’s armed forces and collect military secrets, reports said.
In 2021, Shi allegedly contacted Hsu, who served in the air force’s Combatant Command as an interception controller, posing as someone with connections to the US military, reports said.
After persuading Hsu to join him, he allegedly promised financial rewards in return for confidential information about the military’s response to harassment by Chinese aircraft, reports said.
Hsu reportedly provided information on air force training and exercises, in addition to confidential information on the use of Hsiung Feng III (Brave Wind III, 雄風) missiles.
Shi then reportedly passed information to Chinese personnel, receiving NT$1.5 million (US$49,425) in “company bonuses,” NT$200,000 of which he passed to Hsu, reports said.
In August last year, the Taichung branch of the High Prosecutors’ Office reportedly directed a team to search Shi’s home, seizing several electronics and other items, which led them to Hsu’s involvement in the case.
Both men confessed during interrogations, leading prosecutors to request both be detained, reports said.
Shi was released on bail of NT$100,000 last week, while Hsu remains in detention.
The Ministry of National Defense today said it had already investigated the case and referred it to prosecutors.
The ministry also said it has taken measures to reduce damage from infiltration attempts, and that China’s attempts to access Taiwan’s state secrets have not stopped.
In 2023, the Political Warfare Bureau received reports from personnel that a man surnamed Shi was pretending to be part of a US think tank in an attempt to contact active personnel and gather intelligence, the ministry said.
The ministry then coordinated with the National Security Bureau and Military Police to conduct an investigation, it added.
In August last year, the case was reported to the Taichung branch of the High Prosecutors’ Office, leading to charges against the defendants for contraventions of the National Security Act, the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國密法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), it said.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to