Former Air Force Air Defense and Artillery Command chief of staff colonel Hsin Peng-sheng (辛澎生) was yesterday found not guilty by the High Court after previously being sentenced to six months in prison under the National Security Act (國家安全法) for attempting to “develop an organization” for China.
In the first trial at the Ciaotou District Court in Kaohsiung, prosecutors said that on the eve of Hsin’s retirement in November 1998, he used trips arranged by a friend to South Korea and Indonesia as an opportunity to meet with Zhao Ming (趙明), likely a pseudonym for an alleged member of the Liaison Department in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s General Political Department.
Hsin accepted free travel, meals and accommodation from Zhao, prosecutors said.
Photo copied by Huang Chia-lin, Taipei Times
After leaving the military, Hsin, aware that Zhao was interested in getting to know senior military officers, invited former subordinate Hsieh Chia-kang (謝嘉康), then a colonel in charge of the Air Force Air Defense and Missile Command’s 953rd Brigade, to travel to Phuket, Thailand, together and play golf with Zhao and others, they said.
In July 2010, Zhao arranged for Hsin’s friend Yang Yun-ting (楊昀庭), who was also convicted, to take relatives of Hsin and Hsieh — who was prohibited from traveling to China, as he was on active duty — to China for the Shanghai Expo, prosecutors said.
The trip, including meals and accommodations, was paid for by the Chinese government, which also gifted them with maotai, a Chinese liquor, they said.
The same group of people later traveled to Malaysia, where they were once again received by Chinese operatives and provided with free meals and accommodations, they added.
However, after returning to Taiwan, Hsieh’s wife felt that it was inappropriate to be meeting with Zhao and other Chinese representatives so often, and thereafter apparently refused further invitations to go abroad, prosecutors said.
While the district court was hearing his case, Hsin reportedly admitted that as he was preparing to leave the military, he hoped for an opportunity to go to China and used the trips abroad as a chance to meet Chinese friends.
However, he also told Hsieh not to “think too much” or cross any red lines, sources said.
Hsin claimed that he was simply making friends and had not collected any intelligence or recruited any senior military personnel to leak national secrets to China, they said.
After the first ruling, prosecutors felt that the penalty was too lenient and appealed.
However, the High Court ruled that accepting inducements did not constitute the development of an espionage organization.
After reviewing the Investigation Bureau’s and prosecutors’ notes, recordings and transcripts, the judges found that Hsin and Yang did not admit to accepting paid trips abroad, the sources said, adding that the notes diverged on whether they knew Zhao’s true identity.
The judges also felt that the prosecutors failed to prove that Zhao is a member of the department and that they were unable to provide payment details for the trips, the sources said.
The High Court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to uphold Hsin’s and Yang’s convictions. The ruling is not final and can still be appealed.
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