The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a ruling by a lower court that sentenced a former Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officer last year to four years in prison for alleged violation of the National Security Act (國家安全法).
In September last year, the Taipei District Court found Zhen Xiaojiang (鎮小江), a retired PLA captain, guilty of setting up a spy ring in Taiwan.
Zhen, based in Xiamen, China, was found to have traveled to Taiwan frequently after he acquired Hong Kong residency in 2005.
Traveling on a tourist visa, Zhen set up the espionage ring by recruiting retired and active Taiwanese military officers to collect secret military intelligence, according to the district court.
Retired Republic of China Army major-general Hsu Nai-chuan (許乃權) who once ran unsuccessfully for the post of Kinmen county commissioner, was also given a three-year jail term at the district court in relation to the case.
Hsu is the highest-ranking army officer in Taiwan to be prosecuted for an offense against national security.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday reduced the sentence for Hsu to two years and 10 months.
Teng Chen-chiu (鄧振球), the presiding High Court judge, said that although Hsu was found guilty of helping Zhen expand his spy network by introducing other retired and serving military officers, his conduct could only be determined as an “attempt” — an offense that occurs when a person comes dangerously close to carrying out a criminal act and intends to commit the act, but does not commit it.
As for Zhen, the court found that the number of criminal acts involving the Chinese national was higher than those unearthed in the first trial, Teng said.
However, thanks to Zhen’s confession and cooperation with the trial proceedings, the court decided to retain the original sentence, he said.
The ruling can be appealed.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to