Army Major General Hsieh Chia-kang (謝嘉康), who is being investigated over allegations he leaked classified information on Taiwan’s missile defense systems to China, was released late on Tuesday after posting bail, prosecutors said.
They confirmed that they also questioned a second suspect, retired army colonel Hsin Peng-sheng (辛澎生), who allegedly recruited Hsieh, adding that he was released on bail early yesterday.
Both suspects posted bail of NT$100,000 and have been forbidden from leaving the nation, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
Prosecutors said that Hsieh and Hsin were recruited by Chinese intelligence agents and attempted to develop a spy ring in Taiwan, in contravention of the National Security Act (國家安全法).
Hsieh was the deputy commander of the Matsu Defense Command on and the commander of the Air Defense Missile Command, where he had access to the specifications of all the nation’s missiles, including the US-made MIM-104F Patriot missile and the domestically developed Tien Kung III and Hsiung Feng 2E cruise missiles.
Travel records indicate that Hsieh traveled to Thailand and Malaysia, where he allegedly met with Chinese intelligence operatives and might have received financial rewards for acquiring and passing on military secrets to the Chinese, and agreed to recruit other people for to set up a spy ring in Taiwan, prosecutor Wang Po-tun (王柏敦) said.
The case first came to the attention of the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau last year, when sources told the bureau that Hsin was working in the tourism industry after his retirement and had been recruited by Chinese intelligence officials when he was leading a Taiwanese tour group in China last year.
Hsin, who had met Hsieh when they were serving in the same unit, persuaded Hsieh to obtain classified military materials.
In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense announced that Hsieh had been relieved of his job as deputy commander of the Matsu Defense Command and has been demoted to an adviser at the Air Force Command Headquarters, pending the outcome of the judicial probe.
“Someone in our military last year alleged that Hsieh had been in contact with a person who had been recruited by Chinese intelligence officers, and told our national security agency to investigate the case at that time,” the ministry said in the statement.
Raids were on Tuesday conducted at the two suspects’ residences, in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County to gather evidence.
The conclusions of the investigators will be passed on to the US, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) said yesterday, responding to questions at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee.
“The US is gravely concerned about intelligence leaks in the case,” he said, addressing questions on whether the case would affect US arms sales to Taiwan and relations between the two nations.
Additional reporting by CNA
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper