The High Court today sentenced a retired lieutenant general and five coconspirators to prison for recruiting active-duty and retired military personnel in Taiwan in an attempt to form an espionage network for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Retired general Kao An-kuo (高安國), 81, was sentenced to seven years and six months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法).
He is the highest-ranking military officer in Taiwan’s history to be convicted of espionage.
Photo: Yang Kuo-wen, Taipei Times
Kao attempted to forge an armed organization to act as the “Republic of China Taiwan Military Government” that would assist invading Chinese forces and act as an “internal collaborator” on behalf of the CCP, prosecutors said.
The group would launch a comprehensive attack on government institutions in the event of a blockade or invasion by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), they said.
The organization further planned to establish a provisional government to achieve “unification,” they added.
During the trial, Kao denied all charges.
His live-in partner, Liu Yi-chen (劉逸蓁), was sentenced to six years and six months, while four other defendants were handed sentences ranging from two years and six months, to six years.
Kao and four other defendants were indicted for attempting to develop an organization under the National Security Act, while codefendant and organization spokesperson Hou Shao-kang (侯紹康) received six years for successfully developing an organization.
As the former five defendants failed to establish an organization of at least three members — the legal threshold — they were charged with “attempting” to develop an organization, High Court spokesperson Wen Chia-chien (文家倩) said.
A total of NT$9.62 million (US$312,454) in illegal gains was confiscated from the six defendants.
All six defendants knew China to be a hostile force that threatens Taiwan’s democratic constitutional order and social stability through military threats, intelligence operations and “united front” tactics, Wen said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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