The High Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday upheld a decision by Taipei district prosecutors not to indict Chinese businessman Xiang Xin (向心) and his wife, Kung Ching (龔青), on national security charges due to a lack of evidence.
An investigation by district prosecutors showed that there was insufficient evidence to suggest that the pair had contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement.
Xiang, the chief executive of China Innovation Investment Ltd, and Kung, an alternate board member, were arrested by Investigation Bureau agents at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Nov. 24, 2019, stopping them from boarding a flight to Hong Kong.
Photo: Taipei Times
Their arrests came after William Wang Liqiang (王立強), a self-proclaimed Chinese spy seeking asylum in Australia, said China Innovation Investment, where he was formerly employed, was a front for efforts by Chinese intelligence to target Hong Kong’s democracy movement and Taiwan’s elections.
Xiang and Kung were released days after their arrest, but they were barred from leaving Taiwan pending further investigation into Wang’s allegations.
On April 8, 2021, the couple was indicted on charges of money laundering, and prosecutors said they were under investigation on suspicion of conspiring with Chinese intelligence.
In November 2021, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office decided not to prosecute the two Chinese nationals on national security grounds due to a lack of evidence, and forwarded the decision to the High Prosecutors’ Office for review.
The office returned the case to the district office requesting further investigation, saying that there were details related to Wang’s allegations that needed to be clarified.
After more than a year of information gathering, Taipei prosecutors stood by their initial decision and in May said they had decided not to indict Xiang and Kung due to insufficient evidence.
The office had reached out to Australia for help, but were told that “circumstances do not qualify for mutual legal assistance,” it said.
Prosecutors had also sought the assistance of Chinese authorities to no avail, it added.
On Thursday, the High Prosecutors’ Office said there was no need to reconsider the case again and determined that the decision not to indict on national security grounds was final.
The couple was also acquitted of the money-laundering charges by the Taipei District Court in February last year, also due to a lack of evidence.
However, prosecutors appealed the ruling, and the High Court, which heard the case on July 12, said it would announce its decision next month.
Wang was in January refused asylum and was facing deportation back to China, a report in the South China Morning Post said.
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