The Taiwan High Court yesterday released convicted Chinese spy Zhou Hongxu (周泓旭) after his legal team appealed for him to be freed, but barred him from leaving the country and ordered him to report daily to the police.
The Taipei District Court on Sept. 15 last year convicted Zhou of espionage and breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法) and sentenced him to 14 months, a ruling that was criticized by many people as too lenient.
The High Court yesterday agreed with Zhou’s lawyers, who argued that he had effectively served his sentence since he had been held in detention since Taipei prosecutors took him into custody on March 9 last year for questioning into allegations he had been recruiting people to spy for China.
Photo: CNA
The court cited Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) provisions for its ruling, but it imposed travel restrictions and limits on public statements, and required him to report daily to the Liuzhangli Police Station, the nearest station to his Taipei residence.
As Zhou walked out of the court yesterday, he told reporters: “I will appeal my case, because I am innocent of the charges.”
Zhou said he needed to be careful with his words, because he needed to obey the restrictions the court had imposed on his public statements about his case.
The 31-year-old Zhou first came to Taiwan in 2009 to study at Tamkang University in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) and later returned to study for a graduate degree in management at Chengchi University from 2012 to 2016.
In a related development, New Party spokesman Wang Ping-chung (王炳忠) has been listed as a defendant in Zhou’s espionage case.
Prosecutors suspect that Zhou recruited Wang to help him develop a spy network as a means of penetrating important government ministries and to source classified materials to pass on to Chinese authorities.
In their ongoing investigation into separate charges in the case, Taipei prosecutors last week summoned Wang and several of his associates for questioning, including New Party youth wing executives Ho Han-ting (侯漢廷) and Lin Ming-cheng (林明正), and a party accountant surnamed Tseng (曾).
Wang failed to appear last week, but presented himself on Monday, when he was listed as a defendant on charges of violating the National Security Act.
Ho, Lin, Tseng and Wang’s father, Wang Chin-pu (王進步), did appear for questioning and were later released, but with travel restrictions.
Wang Ping-chung is known for his pro-China views and has made frequent trips to China, often appearing as a political commentator on Chinese state media.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS