Retired major gets 12 years for passing secrets to China

Taipei, Jan. 1 (CNA) Retired Army Major Lee Hai-peng (李海鵬) has been sentenced to 12 years in jail by the Taiwan High Court for selling secrets to China, a much stiffer sentence than he received from the same court in the same case earlier last year.

Lee Hai-peng's sons, former Captain Lee Yu-sheng (李輿聖) and former Sergeant Lee Yu-ching (李輿靖), were found guilty of colluding with their father and received sentences of two years and a month and 10 years and six months, respectively, the court said on Tuesday.

Also, former Air Force Major Lee Wen-sheng (李文生) was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of rendering aid to an enemy's spies.

Similar to Lee Hai-peng, the sentences for Lee Yu-ching and Lee Wen-sheng were far longer than in the previous verdict.

All of the rulings can still be appealed.

In August 2024, the high court sentenced Lee Hai-peng to four years in prison for delivering classified military information that he obtained or knew of through his position and collecting national classified information.

After the Supreme Court returned the case to the Taiwan High Court, however, Lee Hai-peng was convicted on three charges under the Classified National Security Information Protection Act, including delivering classified national security information to China, and was given 12 years in jail.

According to the high court's ruling, Lee Hai-peng, in his 70s, started brokering meetings between Taiwanese and Chinese officials after retiring in 1990, during which time he was recruited by China to collect intelligence.

In 2008, Lee Hai-peng recruited Lee Wen-sheng, an Air Force officer serving in Hualien, to gather classified and confidential information.

Lee Hai-peng told Lee Wen-sheng he was helping China collect military information and Lee Wen-sheng agreed to participate for monetary benefits, the court found.

It said Lee Wen-sheng handed over hard or digital copies of "confidential" or "classified" files that he came across in his position and passed them on to Lee Hai-peng, which were then transferred to Chinese intelligence officials in exchange for US$10,000 in cash and a paid trip to South Korea, it said.

In May 2010, Lee Hai-peng began to ask Lee Yu-sheng and Lee Yu-ching to divulge classified information because of Lee Wen-sheng's imminent retirement.

Lee Yu-ching collected classified information and took it with him off the base before turning it into digital files and handing the files to his father, according to the court.

In 2012, Lee Hai-peng and his wife as well as Lee Yu-ching and his girlfriend received an all expenses paid trip to Malaysia, where they met Chinese officials, the court said.

It noted that Lee Yu-ching was aware that his father was a spy for China but continued collecting intelligence for him after returning to Taiwan.

Lee Wen-sheng was originally sentenced to three years and two months in jail by the Taiwan High Court on the lesser charge under the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces of delivering classified military information that he obtained or knew of through his position.

Lee Yu-sheng and Lee Yu-ching were originally sentenced to two years and two months and two years and four months under the same original charge as Lee Wen-sheng.

But while Lee Yu-sheng was simply found guilty of the same charge in the retrial and had his sentence reduced by a month, Lee Yu-ching was convicted on the more serious charge of rendering aid to an enemy's spies and given a much heavier sentence.