6 military personnel, 1 Chinese detained on espionage suspicions

Taipei, Nov. 19 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court has granted prosecutors' request to detain six retired and active Taiwanese military personnel and a Chinese man indicted for leaking military secrets to China.

The ruling, handed down Tuesday night, can be appealed.

In a summary of the ruling read by a court spokesperson, the court said the seven individuals were indicted on charges related to violations of the National Security Act, which carry a minimum sentence of five years in prison.

It decided that given the seriousness of their alleged crimes and their potential flight risk, they were ordered to be detained for three months, the maximum allowed for defendants during a trial.

One of the defendants, Yang Chien-hui (楊千慧), admitted to all charges and was deemed unlikely to collude, so she will not be held incommunicado. The remaining six suspects will be detained incommunicado, the court said.

Earlier Tuesday, the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office indicted the seven for violating the National Security Act, the Classified National Security Information Protection Act, and the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces.

The defendants include a Chinese man named Ding Xiaohu (丁小琥), or Ting Siu Fu in Cantonese, who holds a Hong Kong passport, as well as six military personnel, identified as Wang Wen-hao (王文豪), Tan Chun-ming (譚俊明), Lu Fang-chi (呂芳契), Chiu Han-lin (邱翰林), Yang Chien-hui and Yang Po-chih (楊博智).

Prosecutors allege that Ding recruited retired officers Wang, Tan and two others surnamed Chang (張) and Ho (何) who have since died as members of a network that developed contacts and gathered classified information.

The four then took advantage of their connections in the military to recruit active and retired personnel, including Lu, Chiu, Yang Chien-hui and Yang Po-chih, according to prosecutors.

More than NT$11.12 million (US$356,444) was transferred to Taiwan to fund the criminal operations by an associate named Chen Chun-an (陳俊安), according to information provided by prosecutors, the Investigation Bureau and the Ministry of National Defense (MND).

Official descriptions of the case have not pinpointed when these actions took place, but according to local media, Ding began recruiting people for his network in 2018 and began actual spy activities in 2023.

The case was discovered by judicial authorities in 2024.

Also on Tuesday, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office indicted Ding, Wang, and Chen for money laundering and violations of the Banking Act. Charges against Chang and Ho, both deceased, were dropped.