Taiwan charges ex MP and ex admiral with spying for China

• Taiwan has accused two former state officials of breaking the national security statute.
• By arranging meetings between former top military officers and Chinese intelligence agents.
• To advance China’s unification with Taiwan.

By arranging meetings between former top military officers and Chinese intelligence agents, Taiwan has accused two former state officials of breaking the national security statute.

The Chinese were apparently able to “contact and even recruit” ex-military officers into their network thanks to those interactions.

In total, 48 former cops were given free travels to mainland China 13 times between 2013 and 2018, according to the prosecution.

Earlier, the men denied that they were enlisting spies for China.

Prosecutors assert that the sessions also served to advance China’s unification with Taiwan.

If found guilty, former MP Lo Chih-ming and retired rear admiral Hsia Fu-hsiang could spend up to five years in prison.

China has sworn to annex Taiwan, calling it a renegade province and threatening to use force if necessary to do so.

The US, Taiwan’s staunchest friend, issued a warning in October that China is moving towards unification far more quickly.

The third term of China’s leader Xi Jinping as head of the Communist Party and the military began around the same time.

From the end of the civil war in 1949, when the Communist Party seized power on the mainland and nationalists moved to Taiwan island, Beijing and Taipei have been spying on one another.

According to the prosecution, Mr. Hsia and Mr. Lo have been associated with pro-unification Chinese organizations since 2013.

Since January, the two guys have been in custody.

But, there is no proof that the retired officers who went on these trips gathered sensitive material for China, therefore they are classified as witnesses, according to the prosecution.

These names came to light when prosecutors looked into an air force colonel who was accused of recruiting at least six active personnel of Taiwan’s navy and air force for China over an eight-year period.

“We urge retired military officers to exercise caution regarding unreasonable benefits when they go to events in China to avoid falling into the traps” of Beijing, prosecutors say.

Former senior military officials from Taiwan have recently been charged with helping Chinese intelligence.

An ex-major general of the air force was found guilty in January of taking meals and vacations from a Hong Kong businessman working for Beijing.

The fact that he expressed regret and had no prior criminal history led to the suspension of his sentence.

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