A former National Security Bureau agent responsible for protecting former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) was detained on suspicion of espionage, prompting lawmakers to call for increased penalties for people caught spying for China.
Major Wang Hung-ju (王鴻儒), a former agent of the Special Service Command Center, was arrested on Monday for allegedly attempting to develop a spy network for China.
Wang allegedly attempted to recruit a Military Police Command intelligence officer surnamed Tseng (曾) to gather information about operations in exchange for a large cash payment and safe relocation to China if Tseng was exposed. Tseng rejected the offer.
Photo: Tsai Wen-chu, Taipei Times
Wang’s activity was discovered by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau during a probe into Taiwanese businessman Ho Chih-chiang (何志強), who in 2010 was sentenced to 14 months in prison for attempting to recruit a security bureau official to collect information about overseas national security officials; the security bureau’s satellite communication system; Taiwan’s Japan policy and “secret diplomacy”; the Tibetan independence movement; and Falun Gong activities.
Wang, a former military police officer, was transferred to the security bureau’s special service unit in 2002 to protect Lu.
He retired in 2003 and was allegedly recruited by Chinese intelligence operatives in 2009.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) yesterday said that no active military personnel are involved in Wang’s espionage ring.
The ministry has counterintelligence measures in place and warns active and soon-to-be-retired soldiers and officers against spying for China, he said.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus called for increased penalties for people caught spying for China, as offenders are handed moderate prison terms.
Among those convicted of Chinese espionage in recent years, former navy lieutenants Chien Ching-kuo (錢經國) and Lu Chun-chun (盧俊均) were sentenced to 10 months in prison in 2014, while last year former Chinese People’s Liberation Army officer Zheng Xiaojiang (鎮小江) and retired Republic of China Army major general Hsu Nai-chuan (許乃權) were sentenced to a four-year and a two-year-and-10-month prison term respectively.
“Those were cases that caused a national uproar, but only lenient punishments were given,” DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said.
The Criminal Code stipulates a prison sentence of three to 10 years for people disclosing national secrets to a foreign state, but China is not seen as a foreign state due to the complicated cross-strait political relationship, DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said.
Spying for China is punishable according to the National Security Act (國家安全法), which stipulates a prison sentence of one to seven years.
“Chinese spies and Taiwanese spying for China have exploited the legal inconsistency to avoid heavier criminal sentences,” Chao said.
Chao proposed amending the National Security Act to increase the prison sentence for espionage to three to 10 years.
A preliminary review of the proposal was completed in the previous legislative session.
Chao and Chen Chi-mai called on the legislature to finalize the review this session to ensure that Chinese spies would be duly punished.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS