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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS