A former army general got his just deserts for the life sentence he received in betraying his country and spying for China, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) said yesterday.
The spokesman said Lo Hsien-che (羅賢哲) — a one-star general — fell into a sex trap during his stationing in Thailand and leaked military secrets to Chinese officials, later accepting payment for his espionage activities.
“Lo Hsien-che’s deeds have undermined national interests, endangered national security, and have a devastating impact on the military’s reputation and morale,” Lo said.
The remarks came after a local newspaper reported that Lo Hsien-che, who is serving life imprisonment, wrote letters to his family recently claiming he was treated unjustly by the military court and asked for a judicial retrial.
The Chinese-language China Times cited Lo Hsien-che claiming in his letter that he was “set up” by the US FBI because he opposed weapons purchases from the US, drawing the ire of some politicians and arms dealers in both Taiwan and the US.
Lo Hsien-che was quoted as saying that during his visit to the US in late August 2010 for a conference, FBI agents met him at Hilton Hawaiian Village and forced him to confess that he spied for China in a videotape.
The tape was turned over to Taiwan on Oct. 30 that year.
The media reports said that during the two-month period, the US had tried to solicit Lo Hsien-che to work as a double agent, meaning that he would provide fake information to China and leak intelligence collected on Taiwan to the US.
After Lo Hsien-che refused the offer, the US decided to hand over the tape to Taiwan, which started the investigation that led to his arrest in January 2011.
Before his arrest, he had served as director of the communications and electronic information department at Army Command Headquarters since his return from Thailand in 2005.
Lo Hsien-che was sentenced to life imprisonment by Taiwan’s military high court in July 2011 for engaging in espionage, handing military secrets to the enemy and accepting payment for actions that were in violation of his military duties.
Engaging in espionage activities for China carries the death penalty or life imprisonment in Taiwan under the Armed Forces Criminal Act (陸海空軍刑法).
Since Lo Hsien-che confessed to his deeds, he was given life imprisonment instead of the death sentence, the court said.
Lo Hsien-che appealed the case to the Supreme Military Court, but the court upheld the sentence.
He later appealed his case to the Supreme Court, the highest ruling body in Taiwan.
The 54-year-old officer reportedly had access to information on a Taiwan-US military cooperation project known as Po Sheng, which involved communication links between the armed forces of the two countries.
Lo Hsien-che is the highest-ranking Taiwanese officer to be caught spying for China in nearly five decades.
He is thought to have been recruited by Chinese agents in 2004 in Thailand, where he was posted between 2002 and 2005.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by