Taiwan Supreme Court upholds sentences for retired Army personnel spying for China
Aug 11, 2024
Taipei [Taiwan], August 11 : The Taiwan Supreme Court has upheld the lower court's prison sentences of two retired members of the Taiwan Army, who were found guilty of attempting to collect military intelligence for China, reported Focus Taiwan.
The Supreme Court's ruling was final and the court has agreed with the Taiwan High Court's sentencing of a former staff sergeant surnamed Wu and a former private surnamed Tsou to 22 and 20 months in prison, respectively, for violating the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces.
Moreover, it further rejected appeals made by both the defendants and the prosecutors, stating that the previous ruling by the Taiwan High Court Tainan Branch Court did not have any errors, as reported by Focus Taiwan.
According to the final verdict, when Wu and Tsou served at the Guandu Area Command, they came into contact with Liu, a person thought to be affiliated with a Chinese military intelligence agency, in 2003 and 2012, respectively.
Former colonel Liu Sheng-shu began doing business in China after retiring from the Air Force in 2013.
He was then recruited by the Chinese side to serve as a spy and used his personnel connections in the military to recruit active military officers in the Navy and Air Force to engage in espionage activities, according to Taiwan News.
Further, Liu recruited at least six officers into his spy ring and received "rewards" of between NT USD 200,000 and NT USD 700,000 from the Chinese side through a shell company he set up for each individual he recruited.
Liu directed the two men to collect Taiwan's military secrets in exchange for substantial compensation, the apex court stated.
Earlier in April 2013, Wu, with the help of military computers, downloaded 135 classified files, including those related to Han Kuang drills and anti-infiltration operations, and joined with Tsou in handing the information over to Liu, it said.
However, there was no direct evidence showing that the information was delivered to Chinese agents. Hence, Wu and Tsou's actions were deemed as attempted offences, according to the court.
