Prosecutors have appealed the acquittal of former legislator Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) and a navy officer in a spying case, citing their alleged links to top Beijing officials who they met at alumni events of China’s Whampoa Military Academy.
Lo, a former Taiwan Solidarity Union lawmaker, and retired rear admiral Hsia Fu-hsiang (夏復翔) were in April acquitted by the High Court on charges of contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法).
The Kaohsiung branch of the High Prosecutors’ Office filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, saying that the acquittal went against rulings in related cases and was unusual under the Criminal Speedy Trial Act (刑事妥速審判法).
Photo: CNA
Evidence showed that Lo and Hsia were given the highest-level reception by Chinese provincial government officials at the alumni events, prosecutors said.
They met with high-ranking officials in China’s political and military circles, showing that the events Lo and Hsia attended were not simple banquets, prosecutors said.
The investigation into Hsia — who was president of the Naval Academy’s Alumni Association — showed that in 2012 he was introduced to Whampoa Military Academy Alumni Association deputy director Hao Yifeng (郝一峰) and former China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification director Fang Xinsheng (方新生).
Lo was director of Taiyen Corp’s branch office in China’s Xiamen, China, investigators said.
In 2013, Lo met Li Ying (李鷹), chairman of a Chinese biotechnology firm, who Lo knew had previously served in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force, they said.
Despite Li’s past, Lo invited him to Taiwan to play in a golf tournament, where he was introduced to Hsia, a court filing showed.
Lo and Hsia agreed to cooperate with Fang and Li to organize group tours to China for retired Taiwanese military officers, on which they met Chinese government officials and attended banquets and the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, prosecutors said, adding that Lo and Hsia were trying to recruit retired officers to set up spy rings in Taiwan.
In the first ruling in July last year, the Kaohsiung District Court acquitted Lo, citing insufficient evidence.
It found Hsia guilty of attempting to form a spy network for China and handed him a five-month sentence.
Prosecutors appealed the rulings, but the High Court in April acquitted Hsia and upheld the ruling for Lo.
The retired officers had attended the aerospace expo, but the evidence did not show that they had attended seminars and banquet events, the High Court said.
The expo was not targeting retired Taiwanese military officers, but was promoted globally, it said.
There was also no clear evidence that Li had served in the Chinese air force, the High Court said.
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