The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法).
His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today.
Photo: CNA
Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk.
Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor at a company, where he established a Taiwanese espionage network to leak military secrets, according to court documents.
Shih approached then-Air Force Air Intercept Controller Hsu Chan-cheng (許展誠) in 2021, claiming to have connections to the US military, and persuaded him to leak classified files in exchange for payment, which Shih delivered to his contacts in China.
Information leaked over the almost four-year partnership included the Air Force’s applications of Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles and deployments in response to Chinese military incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
Shih received “company dividends” in compensation, worth more than NT$2.1 million (US$68,917) of which he transferred NT$200,000 to Hsu, the investigation found.
In August last year, the Taichung branch of the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office launched a search operation, raiding Shih’s residence and indicting him and Hsu for contravening the National Security Act, the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法施行細則) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪汙治罪條例) in December.
Prosecutors requested the pair’s detention incommunicado, which was approved.
Both Shih and Hsu confessed during interrogation and were indicted under the Anti-Corruption Act and the National Security Act, with the case transferred to the Taichung branch of the High Court.
Shih was later released on bail of NT$100,000 while Hsu remained in detention incommunicado.
In March, the Taichung High Court ruled that Shih had violated two counts of the National Security Act, sentencing him to ten months and two years and two months imprisonment, respectively, ruling that he is to serve a combined sentence of two years and six months.
Shih’s illicit gains were confiscated.
Both the prosecutors and Shih appealed the ruling, with the Supreme Court today partially rejecting the appeals, finalizing the two-year, two-month sentence ruling and remanding the ten-month sentence for retrial.
The charges against Hsu have been transferred to the Taichung District Court due to jurisdiction issues.
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