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.
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