A couple from the air force was found guilty of espionage and handed jail sentences following a retrial at the High Court’s Kaohsiung branch yesterday.
Sun Wei (孫緯) and his wife, Liu Yun-ya (劉芸雅), were found guilty of four counts of contravening the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces, including passing classified military information to Chinese intelligence.
Sun and Liu were sentenced to 47 years and 57 years in prison respectively.
Photo: EPA
The ruling can be appealed.
The retrial came after the Supreme Court in June last year found their original sentences to be flawed.
Sun and his wife were initially given jail terms of 19 years and six months, and 20 years and six months respectively.
An investigation found that the couple was connected to a case involving retired air force colonel Liu Sheng-shu (劉聖恕), who operated a spy network.
Liu Sheng-shu had begun doing business in China after retiring in 2013, and was recruited by Chinese intelligence officers to become a spy and get active military officers to engage in espionage activities in exchange for money.
He recruited six officers, including Sun and his wife, and received payments of between NT$200,000 and NT$700,000 from China through a shell company he set up for each person he recruited.
Liu Sheng-shu was also given bonuses of between NT$30,000 and NT$100,000 when his handlers passed on classified information on the Taiwanese military.
Liu Sheng-shu and the six other officers were arrested and indicted by prosecutors in April 2023.
Following subsequent rulings and appeals, the Supreme Court in June last year upheld most of the defendants’ sentences, except for Sun and his wife. Their cases were sent back to the High Court for retrial.
The Control Yuan censured the Ministry of National Defense over its handling of the incident.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS