The Supreme Court has upheld lower court prison sentences for two retired members of the army who were found guilty of attempting to collect military intelligence for China.
Its ruling is final.
The Supreme Court agreed with the High Court’s sentencing of a former staff sergeant, surnamed Wu (吳), and a former private, surnamed Tsou (鄒), to 22 and 20 months in prison, respectively, for violating the Criminal Code of the armed forces.
Photo: Chang Wen-chuan, Taipei
It rejected appeals made by the defendants and the prosecutors, explaining that the previous ruling by the High Court’s Tainan branch did not have any errors.
When Wu and Tsou served at the Guandu Area Command, they came into contact with Liu (劉), a person thought to be affiliated with Chinese intelligence, in 2003 and 2012, respectively, according to the verdict.
Under Liu’s instructions, the two men collected Taiwanese military secrets in exchange for substantial compensation, the Supreme Court said.
In April 2013, Wu used military computers to download 135 classified files, including those related to Han Kuang drills and anti-infiltration operations, and joined with Tsou in handing the information over to Liu, it said.
However, because there was no direct evidence showing that the information was delivered to Chinese agents, Wu and Tsou’s actions were deemed as attempted offenses, it said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RSS