A former air force colonel was found not guilty this morning by the Kaohsiung branch of the High Court in the fourth and final ruling in the long-running Chinese espionage case.
Former Republic of China Air Force Air Defense and Artillery Command chief of staff colonel Hsin Peng-sheng (辛澎生) had previously been found guilty twice, while today marked his second non-guilty verdict.
Under the Criminal Speedy Trial Act (刑事妥速審判法), there can be no further appeals, making today’s verdict final.
Photo copied by Huang Chia-lin, Taipei Times
Hsin was previously sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to fines, under the National Security Act (國家安全法) for attempting to “develop an organization” for China.
In November 1998, then-colonel Hsin traveled to Indonesia and South Korea under arrangements made by a friend, where he allegedly met with a member of the Liaison Department in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) General Political Department, the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Hsin accepted free travel, meals and accommodation provided by the PLA official, prosecutors said.
Once Hsin retired from the military, he discovered that the PLA official was looking to meet with senior military officers and invited former subordinate Hsieh Chia-kang (謝嘉康), then a colonel in charge of the air force command’s 953rd Brigade, to travel to Phuket, Thailand, to join a golfing trip with the official in 2009, they said.
In July 2010, the PLA official allegedly arranged for Hsin’s friend Yang Yun-ting (楊昀庭) to take relatives of Hsin and Hsieh on a free tour of Shanghai during the opening of the Shanghai World Expo 2010, they added.
The same group later traveled to Malaysia to meet with PLA officers, although Hsieh’s wife returned to Taiwan and declined to join further trips after finding the meetings inappropriate, prosecutors said.
The Ciaotou District Court initially sentenced Hsin and Yang to six months each, commutable to fines, for attempting to “develop an organization” for China.
On appeal, the Kaohsiung High Court found them not guilty in 2020.
The second retrial last year returned the case to a guilty verdict, with both sentenced to six months in prison, also commutable to a fine.
This morning’s ruling stated that the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove that Hsin invited Hsieh or others to travel abroad, that Hsin maintained contact with the PLA official in question or that Hsin had received any benefits.
Yang was also found not guilty today.
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