Four defendants in an espionage case were sentenced yesterday by the High Court’s Tainan branch to six to eight years in jail.
The four were found guilty of contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
The verdict can be appealed.
Photo: Wang Chieh, Taipei Times
Huang Lung-lung (黃龍瀧) and his son Huang Sheng-yu (黃聖峪) started doing business in Xiamen, China, in April 2015, where they met China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Fujian branch office member Zhong Dongsheng (鍾東生) and TAO Guangzhou office member Zhang Xiaofeng (張曉楓) in 2019, the court said in its verdict.
Zhong and Zhang persuaded the Huangs to recruit Taiwanese military members willing to provide government or military secrets, promising cash in return, it said.
Between March 2017 and August 2021, the Huangs approached Huang Sheng-yu’s former sports team members and classmates, obtaining agreements from Yeh Hsin-liang (葉鑫亮) and Su Kuan-ying (蘇冠穎), both of whom were air force personnel, the ruling said.
Two others surnamed Chin (金) and Hsieh (謝) declined the offers, it said.
Yeh was paid NT$100,000 for delivering military and government secrets to Huang Lung-lung in 2019 and 2020, while Su received NT$210,000 for selling military and state secrets from September to October 2021, it said.
The Huangs were sentenced to eight years in prison, while Su was given seven years and disenfranchisement for five years, and Yeh is to serve six years and be disenfranchised for five years, it said.
Separately yesterday, Zhou Manzhi (周滿芝), head of the Taiwan New Immigrants’ Association, was indicted on charges of accepting Chinese funding to develop espionage cells in Taiwan.
The case, formerly under the jurisdiction of the Ciaotou District Court, had been remanded to the High Court’s Kaohsiung branch, as it was a second-appellate court case involving an alleged violation of the National Security Act (國家安全法).
The Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office had suggested that Zhou should remain in detention, but the Kaohsiung District Court set bail at NT$150,000 and ordered her not to leave the country.
Zhou is alleged to have contravened the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) and the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法), the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Prosecutors said that an investigation found that the association and other pro-Chinese organizations had taken groups on tours to China’s Hunan Province, and the Chinese government had allegedly paid their expenses.
During the trip, Zhou spoke about the importance of “peaceful unification” and asked tour group members to support specific candidates in Taiwan, the prosecutors said.
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