Two former legislative assistants were detained yesterday after being questioned by Taipei prosecutors about their alleged involvement collecting classified materials and meeting minutes from the Legislative Yuan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mainland Affairs Council, and passing on lists of government personnel and reporters to Chinese intelligence officials.
A third suspect was released on bail after questioning.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Lee Yi-hsien (李易諴), Chen Wei-jen (陳惟仁) and Lin Yung-ta (林雍達) were questioned following raids conducted by prosecutors and officers from the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau’s National Security Operations Division.
Photo: Chen Wei-tzu, Taipei Times
The trio allegedly passed material to Chinese Ministry of State Security officials while working as aides to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers between 2014 and 2018.
Lee and Chen were detained after questioning for allegedly contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and setting up a spy network for China, while Lin was released on bail of NT$100,000 (US$3,372).
Lee worked for then-KMT legislator Chang Li-shan (張麗善), who is now Yunlin County commissioner, while Chen and Lin worked for then-KMT legislator Chen Shu-huey (陳淑慧), who is now Chiayi deputy mayor.
Photo: Chen Wei-tzu, Taipei Times
Lin had also worked for then-legislator Chen Chin-ting (陳進丁) from 1999 to 2008.
Chen Chin-ting was a KMT member until 2002 when he joined the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union. He later joined the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 2010.
Prosecutors said that Lee had worked many years as a correspondent for Malaysia’s Chinese-language Oriental Daily News and the Commons Daily in Taiwan, while Lin, after leaving his legislative aide job, formed connections with several Chinese business interests and made frequent visits to China.
The trio allegedly was recruited by Chinese officials, through offers of money, to gather government materials and personnel lists, and to recruit more people for a spy network, prosecutors said.
Using their access as legislative aides, they allegedly collected volumes of sensitive documents, internal reports and meeting minutes at the Legislative Yuan and government ministries, reportedly focusing on the foreign ministry and the council.
They used their connections with local reporters covering politics to collect other material, and compile lists of government personnel, media workers and legislative assistants, prosecutors said.
Chang told reporters that she has not had contact with Lee since she gave up her seat in the legislature in 2018.
Lee had not formally registered as a legislative assistant, but had just volunteered to help at some of her news conferences, Chang said, adding that Lee would not have had the opportunity to review legal documents at that time.
Chen Shu-huey told reporters that Chen Wei-jen and Lin had left her office in 2009 and that she did not remember much about them.
DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said that the espionage case highlights the affinity the KMT and members of the pan-blue camp have for China, and how they seldom pay attention to leaks and security breaches.
“Most spy cases have involved politicians from the pan-blue camp and pro-China red political groups,” Wang said.
“This is potentially very damaging, as the suspects used their jobs as legislative assistants and media workers to gather sensitive information and classified documents, while their work to develop a spy network for China could have a more serious impact,” Wang added.
A preliminary investigation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs showed that no ministry personnel were involved in the case or under investigation by prosecutors, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told reporters.
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘VERY SHALLOW’: The center of Saturday’s quake in Tainan’s Dongshan District hit at a depth of 7.7km, while yesterday’s in Nansai was at a depth of 8.1km, the CWA said Two magnitude 5.7 earthquakes that struck on Saturday night and yesterday morning were aftershocks triggered by a magnitude 6.4 quake on Tuesday last week, a seismologist said, adding that the epicenters of the aftershocks are moving westward. Saturday and yesterday’s earthquakes occurred as people were preparing for the Lunar New Year holiday this week. As of 10am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded 110 aftershocks from last week’s main earthquake, including six magnitude 5 to 6 quakes and 32 magnitude 4 to 5 tremors. Seventy-one of the earthquakes were smaller than magnitude 4. Thirty-one of the aftershocks were felt nationwide, while 79
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: Taiwan must capitalize on the shock waves DeepSeek has sent through US markets to show it is a tech partner of Washington, a researcher said China’s reported breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) would prompt the US to seek a stronger alliance with Taiwan and Japan to secure its technological superiority, a Taiwanese researcher said yesterday. The launch of low-cost AI model DeepSeek (深度求索) on Monday sent US tech stocks tumbling, with chipmaker Nvidia Corp losing 16 percent of its value and the NASDAQ falling 612.46 points, or 3.07 percent, to close at 19,341.84 points. On the same day, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Sector index dropped 488.7 points, or 9.15 percent, to close at 4,853.24 points. The launch of the Chinese chatbot proves that a competitor can
RSS