Two brothers and eight active service members were handed sentences ranging from 30 months to more than 10 years yesterday for spying on behalf of China.
The High Court’s Tainan branch sentenced two brothers surnamed Hsu (許) to seven years and 10 months, and seven years and four months respectively, while the eight service members received sentences ranging from two-and-a-half years to 10 years and two months.
Starting in 2021, the Hsu brothers made several trips to Macau and Zhuhai in China’s Guangdong Province, where they set up companies as a front for collecting Taiwanese military intelligence, prosecutors said.
Photo: Wang Chun-chung, Taipei Times
In January 2022, the brothers recruited a man surnamed Sun (孫), who was sentenced to five years and six months in prison, and 12 others to bring active-duty service members into the scheme, prosecutors said.
ILLEGAL FUNDS
The brothers posted loan advertisements for military personnel and worked with pawnshops to target service members in need of money, they said.
In return for photographs of their military ID cards and military secrets smuggled out of bases, soldiers were bribed with the equivalent of up to one month’s pay, prosecutors said.
The Hsu brothers and Sun would then send the information to their contact in China, a man called “Brother Long” (龍哥), prosecutors said.
The brothers received more than NT$3.97 million (US$132,732) in illegal funds for their work, prosecutors said, adding that Sun made more than NT$266,000, and the eight service members made between NT$10,000 and NT$190,000.
The eight service members came from the army, navy, air force and coast guard, were active nationwide and included officers as well as soldiers, they said.
INVESTIGATION
Prosecutors launched an investigation in April last year, carrying out four waves of searches across 29 locations and questioning 49 people before holding the main suspects incommunicado.
In their search, prosecutors seized nine pieces of confidential military information and one classified document.
The Hsu brothers were among 15 people accused of breaching the National Security Act (國安法), while the service members were also prosecuted for contravening the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
The sentences can be appealed.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
Speeding and badly maintained roads were the main causes of a school bus accident on a rainy day in Taipei last year that severely injured two people and left 22 with minor injuries, the Taiwan Transportation and Safety Board said. On March 11 last year, a Kang Chiao International School bus overturned inside the Wenshan Tunnel (文山隧道) on the northbound lane of the Xinyi Expressway. The tour bus, owned by Long Lai Co, exceeded the speed limit after entering the tunnel, the board’s investigation found. Sensing that the rear of the vehicle was swaying, the driver attempted to use the service and exhaust
RSS