Former lawmaker Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) and retired rear admiral Hsia Fu-hsiang (夏復翔) have been indicted on espionage charges for allegedly developing a spy network for China and inviting military retirees to meet Chinese government officials.
Kaohsiung prosecutors announced the indictment yesterday, citing evidence and witness testimony that Lo — a former legislator for the Taiwan Solidarity Union — and retired naval rear admiral Hsia began their efforts in 2013 after being recruited by the Chinese military and United Front Work Department.
Lo and Hsia were charged for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) on evidence of inviting and accompanying several retired military officers, 48 ranked as generals or major generals, on 13 trips to China from 2013 to 2019, Kaohsiung deputy head prosecutor Hsu Hung-ju (徐弘儒) said.
Photo: CNA
Many were lured by financial incentives and passed confidential material to China, among other espionage activities, while Lo and Hsia built spy networks, Hsu said.
Lo and Hsia allegedly led the trips to events organized by Beijing, including a gathering for alumni of the Whampoa Military Academy, the Zhuhai International Airshow and golf competitions.
The trips were paid for by Beijing, and Taiwanese military personnel were treated like VIPs while attending banquets and conferences, Hsu said.
Lo befriended Hsia while playing golf together, and through Lo’s business connections, he became acquainted with Li Ying (李鷹), a Chinese biotechnology firm chairman who had extensive ties with the Chinese military, investigators said.
As deputy head of the navy’s Political Warfare Section, Hsia attended events in China and was introduced to former Chinese United Front Work Department section heads Hao Yifong (郝一峰) and Fang Xinsheng (方新生), Hsu said.
Through these connections, Lo and Hsia were recruited and paid to bring retired generals and other officers to junket trips to China, where they were likely influenced by Beijing officials and convinced to conduct espionage, Hsu said.
Separately, Kaohsiung City Councilor Chang Po-yang (張博洋) of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party accused the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and other ministries of neglecting to draft laws to prevent elected officials from attending political meetings in an enemy state.
Chang said he was referring to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians visiting China to attend Whampoa Military Academy anniversary functions, along with other junket trips to China.
Most recently, KMT Taoyuan City Council Speaker Chiu Yi-sheng (邱奕勝) led a 24-member delegation of city councilors and their spouses to Shanghai, and met United Front Work Office Shanghai chairman Chen Tong (陳通) on Tuesday, Chang said.
There was also a trip to Beijing last month led by Kaohsiung borough warden Liu Chi-fang (劉啟芳), also of the KMT, in which a 52-member group comprised of other wardens and community organization directors attended a conference chaired by China’s top Taiwan Affairs Office official, Song Tao (宋濤), Chang said.
He criticized MAC for saying that Taiwan has no law banning officials from such engagement with China, saying that lack of such a law allowed officials to meet with officials of an enemy state.
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
RSS