A retired army colonel surnamed Liu (劉), a retired rear-admiral surnamed Sun (孫) and a man surnamed Chu (祝) were indicted on Thursday for allegedly developing an organization in support of China in contravention of the National Security Act (國家安全法).
As Sun and Chu are considered a flight risk, the High Court’s
Kaohsiung branch has authorized prosecutors to detain them for three months, the Kaohsiung High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement, adding that a trial is ongoing.
Photo: Pao Chien-hsin, Taipei Times
The trio were allegedly recruited by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and used their personal connections to find retired high-level military officers to visit China and the US from 2017 to last year, with travel expenses paid by the CCP, prosecutors said.
The visits provided China with opportunities to recruit people from Taiwan, and promote “united front” ideas such as “one country, two systems,” they said.
At least a dozen retired military officers participated in the trips, and more than 20 retired high-ranking officers, including generals and lieutenant generals, have been questioned as part of the case, they said.
Prosecutors said that after questioning they concluded that the trio had contravened the National Security Act by developing an organization for China.
Sun and Liu also allegedly received funding from China to organize events in Taiwan to campaign for specific candidates in the presidential and legislative elections in January, giving away goods such as zongzi (粽子, glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves), prosecutors said.
In other news, Kaohsiung prosecutors are appealing a court decision that granted former For Public Good Party Deputy Chairman Hsu Shao-tung (徐少東) bail while facing charges of alleged national security crimes. Hsu allegedly developed a network for China in Taiwan, prosecutors said. He posted bail of NT$300,000.
Hsu is also implicated in a separate case, where he is accused of contravening the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法) and the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) for allegedly fabricating opinion polls with the intention of influencing the Jan. 13 presidential election.
Additional reporting by Pao Chien-hsin
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