The High Court yesterday handed down prison sentences to six retired and active military personnel for leaking military secrets to China, and gave them prison sentences of up to eight years and six months.
Wang Wen-hao (王文豪), Tan Chun-ming (譚俊明), Lu Fang-chi (呂芳契), Chiu Han-lin (邱翰林) and Yang Chien-hui (楊千慧) were found guilty of developing an organization for China, in contravention of the National Security Act (國家安全法).
The other defendant, Yang Po-chih (楊博智), was convicted for disclosing information of a secret nature concerning national defense, in contravention of the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法).
Photo: Weng Ching-yu, Taipei Times
They were given sentences ranging from four years and six months to eight years and six months.
The ruling can be appealed.
Ding Xiaohu (丁小琥), or Ting Siu Fu in Cantonese, a Chinese man with a Hong Kong passport, was also indicted in the case, but died in February and had his case dismissed.
The High Prosecutors’ Office indicted the seven people in November last year, after the Investigation Bureau’s Taipei Investigation Branch in 2024 began investigations into possible espionage activities involving Ding.
The bureau said that Ding recruited retired officers Wang, Tan and two others surnamed Chang (張) and Ho (何), who have since died, as members of a network that developed contacts and gathered classified information.
The four recruited active and retired personnel through their connections in the military, including Lu, Chiu, Yang Chien-hui and Yang Po-chih, prosecutors said.
The operation also involved persuading active military personnel to take a passive and non-resistant attitude in potential cross-Taiwan Strait military conflicts, they said.
More than NT$11.12 million (US$351,343) was transferred to Taiwan to support the espionage operations by an associate named Chen Chun-an (陳俊安), according to information provided by prosecutors, the bureau and the Ministry of National Defense.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office also indicted Ding, Wang and Chen in November last year on charges of money laundering and contraventions of the Banking Act (銀行法).
The charges against Ding were dropped following his death, while proceedings against Wang and Chen are ongoing, the Taipei District Court said.
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