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
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
RSS