Three Taiwanese affiliated with the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six months to a year yesterday for recruiting military personnel to spy on behalf of China.
The Kaohsiung branch of the High Court sentenced CUPP deputy secretary-general Wen Lung (溫瓏) to 10 months in prison, and retired military officers Chiang Chiung-lin (江瓊麟) to one year and Chu Hsin-yu (朱新瑜) to six months over contraventions of the National Security Act (國家安全法).
All three men were also fined NT$50,000 (US$1,510), although they could choose to commute their sentences to fines of NT$1,000 per day.
Photo: David Chang, EPA-EFE
Wen, who in 2016 started a business in China importing technology and crops from Taiwan, was recruited by Chinese operatives to develop organizations of former Taiwanese military personnel on behalf of China, prosecutors said.
Wen invited Chiang, who served in the air force, and Chu, who served in the navy, on a trip to China, where they agreed to join the CUPP, the court said.
Once all three men agreed to work on behalf of Chinese Communist Party officials, they used their own connections and networks to recruit active or retired military personnel, prosecutors said.
Chu became the head of a local CUPP chapter to help with his own efforts in recruiting, prosecutors said.
In 2019, Chiang attempted to recruit an officer from the air force’s Songshan Base Command in Taipei, offering professional opportunities and financial rewards, prosecutors said.
The officer rejected the offer and reported the incident, prosecutors added.
Chu and Wen confessed to their crimes, the court said, leading to their reduced sentences.
Prosecutors said that during questioning all three admitted to having met with “united front” officials and other Chinese intelligence officers.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
RSS