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.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS