Laws should be amended to counter Beijing’s psychological warfare against the armed forces, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said on Sunday.
China has been enticing active and retired military personnel to help develop espionage organizations or to engage in psychological operations, such as by filming themselves “voluntarily” surrendering to China or signing a promise of their future surrender, he said.
Former army colonel Hsiang Te-en (向德恩) was recruited by retired lieutenant Shao Wei-chiang (邵維強) in October 2019 to work as a Chinese spy, receiving NT$40,000 (US$1,252) a month, which totaled NT$560,000 over 14 months. In January 2020, Hsiang signed a “pledge of surrender.”
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The Supreme Court sentenced Shao to 12 and a half years in prison and handed Hsiang a jail term of seven and a half years for corruption and bribery offences. The Disciplinary Court also removed Hsiang from office.
Hsiang said the sentence was unconstitutional and requested a constitutional interpretation, but his request was rejected.
The armed forces are tasked with defending national security, but Hsiang had contravened his legal duty by signing a pledge of surrender, promising to not only support cross-strait unification, but to also serve the Chinese government in case of a cross-strait war, the Constitutional Court said, citing the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The Constitutional Court said it decided not to review the case.
The Constitutional Court said that Hsiang’s argument, that signing the pledge was simply his personal opinion on cross-strait issues and that he had a right to freedom of expression, was not convincing.
In a separate case, eight current and retired military officers have been allegedly leaking classified military information to China since 2021.
Junior officers Lu Chun-fang (陸駿方) and Wu Chih-peng (吳志鵬) allegedly filmed themselves saying they would surrender to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, while then-lieutenant colonel Hsieh Meng-shu (謝孟書) allegedly agreed to fly a Chinook helicopter to defect to China. The suspects also included retired army officer Chen Yu-hsin (陳裕炘), who has fled and is wanted.
They had jeopardized national security, the Supreme Court said, giving them prison terms ranging from one and a half years to 13 years for divulging military secrets, and contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
The verdict can be appealed.
Commenting on the cases, Wang, who is also Foreign and National Defense Committee convener, said that Beijing intended to undermine the armed forces’ morale and Taiwanese’s trust in the military by making military personnel film themselves making remarks such as surrendering to China or promising to refrain from resistance in a time of war.
Such tactics are part of Chinese psychological operations targeting the armed forces to sap their morale, while those performed through Taiwanese celebrities are aimed at the public, DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said.
It is difficult to curb the latter through regulations due to Taiwan’s respect for freedom of speech, he said, adding that boundaries can still be drawn.
For example, the government could refuse granting funding to artists and celebrities who have made pro-China statements, Shen added.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RSS