The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday confirmed that two military intelligence officers imprisoned in China for nearly a decade were released and returned to Taiwan in mid-October, adding that it was not related to any spy swap deal with China.
Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said the release was the result of mutual good will demonstrated by both sides of the Taiwan Strait at the landmark meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore last month.
“President Ma is pleased to see Mr Chu [Chu Kung-hsun (朱恭訓)] and Mr Hsu [Hsu Chang-kuo (徐章國)] being able to unite with their families. He also hopes that both sides’ good-intentioned interactions can be continued and lead to more concrete results in the future,” Chen said.
Photo: Lo Tien-pin, Taipei Times
Chu, a former deputy department head of the Bureau of Military Intelligence (BMI), and Hsu, a former section chief of the bureau, were given a life sentence each for espionage while carrying out their official duties in China in 2006, MND spokesperson Major General David Lo (羅紹和) said.
After being imprisoned for more than nine years, they were released and returned to Taiwan on Oct. 13.
Lo said that after the two military intelligence officers were given a life sentence, the government had done everything possible to secure their release since 2008.
Lo also said the government expressed the highest respect and gratitude for the dedication of the two officers and the ordeals of their families and would do its utmost to take care of their interests and compensate them.
They are the highest-ranking Taiwanese agents ever to fall into Chinese hands, according to a local newspaper.
The Chinese-language China Times, which first reported news of the swap, also said Taiwan later agreed to release Li Zhihao (李志豪), a Chinese spy serving a life sentence in Taiwan, in late October, adding it was the first time that both sides of the Strait swapped spies, which it described as an “ice-breaking” move that was historically and politically significant.
However, Lo denied there was any spy swap deal.
“Their release and return to Taiwan in mid-October has nothing to do with a spy swap deal,” Lo said.
Lo said Li has served part of his term, and requested parole many times before it was granted in late October.
On whether China has requested the release of former Army Major General Lo Hsien-che (羅賢哲), believed to be the highest-ranking Taiwanese officer to be caught spying for China in nearly five decades, the ministry spokesman said he does not know anything about it and that Lo Hsien-che is still serving his life sentence.
He said there are no BMI officers still detained in China.
Of those that have been detained for assisting the work of BMI officers, he said that they were either being released through parole or after having completed their terms.
The government would do everything possible to secure the release of those who are still detained, he added.
Additional reporting by Stacy Hsu
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS