3 former military officers get jail time for China espionage

Taipei, Sept. 6 (CNA) Three former officials from the Military Intelligence Bureau were sentenced on Friday to at least 10 months in prison after being found guilty of developing a spy ring and passing secret intelligence to China after their retirement, according to the Taipei District Court.

In its ruling, the court sentenced retired colonel Chang Chao-jan (張超然) to 18 months in prison, while former Maj. Gen. Yueh Chih-chung (岳志忠) and retired colonel Chou Tien-tzu (周天慈) were given sentences of 10 months and 14 months, respectively.

The case can still be appealed.

Meanwhile, the other retired colonel implicated in the case, Wang Ta-wang (王大旺), was found not guilty and acquitted due to a lack of evidence, the court said.

In February 2021, the four former military officers were indicted by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office for alleged violations of the National Intelligence Service Law and the National Security Act.

The charges against them included leaking information about Taiwan's intelligence sources, organizations and personnel, and developing a spy ring on behalf of China.

Prosecutors alleged that Chang, Yueh and Chou were recruited by Chinese intelligence, which offered business incentives, cash rewards and free trips, after their retirement.

According to the indictment, Chang was recruited when he traveled to China to help a former colleague arrested by the Chinese authorities in 1999. He was then instructed to arrange trips for other retired military intelligence officers to visit China. These people would be either be asked or "forced" to provide sensitive information.

Yueh, who was in charge of China-related intelligence work when working at the bureau, was recruited by Chang in 2012 when he wanted to visit relatives in China but was worried about being arrested by the Chinese authorities because of his former work, prosecutors said.

Chang assured Yueh that he could return to Taiwan safely, as long as he gave intelligence information to a Chinese intelligence officer, which Yueh agreed to do.

Meanwhile, Chou was said to have begun working for the Chinese authorities after becoming involved in a real estate dispute in China's Hainan Province that year. Wang was also suspected of having been recruited through Chang, and gave information about his colleagues during a trip to China, prosecutors said.