Ex-lawmaker acquitted in China espionage case

Taipei, Oct. 23 (CNA) Former Taiwan Solidarity Union lawmaker Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) was acquitted recently on charges of developing a Chinese spy network in Taiwan and inviting military retirees to meet Chinese government officials, according to the Supreme Court.

The case dates back to 2013, when Lo, director of a Taiyen branch office in Xiamen, China, allegedly started recruiting retired Taiwanese military officers to work for China after being encouraged to do so by Li Ying (李鷹), a Chinese businessmen prosecutors characterized as an undercover agent of the People's Liberation Army.

Prosecutors accused Lo and retired rear admiral Hsia Fu-hsiang (夏復翔) in the same case of inviting 48 ranking military retirees to attend a series of memorial events in China on 13 group tours from 2014-2018, in contravention of the National Security Act.

Citing a lack of substantive evidence, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the Kaohsiung branch of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office.

Lo was found not guilty of both crimes in the first and second trials.

In the first trial, Hsia was accused of seeking to form a spy network in Taiwan by organizing alumni events for China's Whampoa Military Academy in Kaohsiung (predecessor of the Republic of China Military Academy in Kaohsiung). He received a five-month jail sentence from the Kaohsiung District Court, which was commutable to a fine.

However, following an appeal by prosecutors the high court overturned the lower court's ruling, saying there was no evidence Hsia attempted to develop a spy network in Taiwan by organizing an annual golf event that sought to attract members of the alumni association of China's Whampoa Military Academy since 2019, as he was tasked with doing so by the ROC Military Academy's alumni association.

Hsia was also acquitted by the high court of this crime, citing a lack of evidence, prompting the Supreme Court to order the lower court to retry the case.

The acquittal of Lo and Hsia on charges of courting retired Taiwanese military officers to go to China at the instruction of Li was upheld, while the high court will retry Hsia for his alleged involvement in developing a Chinese spy network.