Convicted China spy gets over 12 years in jail for leaking sensitive data

Taipei, June 17 (CNA) A diabolo instructor facing a 10-and-a-half-year prison sentence for recruiting spies for China was sentenced in two separate cases to 12 years and eight months on Wednesday for leaking sensitive information to China.

The Taipei District Court sentenced Lu Chi-hsien (魯紀賢), a former diabolo instructor, to six years in prison for providing a military training plan and six years and eight months for leaking former President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) 2023 overseas itineraries to China, through accomplices he recruited in both cases.

The court also stripped Lu of his civil rights for four years. The ruling can be appealed.

Lu was found to have obtained classified military materials in November 2022 from Chen Min-chi (陳旻琪), then an Air Force sergeant, who used an on-base computer to log into an internal military network to download information for NT$215,000 (US$6,811).

The military files included a training plan from the Songshan Air Force Command, which Lu then forwarded to Chinese intelligence agents, according to the indictment filed by prosecutors in December last year.

Chen was recruited by former military officer Lin Chu-han (林楚崡), whom Lu had recruited earlier that year, according to prosecutors.

In the second case, Lu directed Ke Tsang-hao (葛倉豪), an aircraft dispatcher at China Airlines, which operated Tsai's trips to Guatemala and Belize in March and April 2023, to obtain her travel itineraries for those trips and paid Chen NT$45,000.

The information Ke provided to Lu included the aircraft's departure and arrival times during the trips, which he obtained by logging into the company's internal network and taking screenshots, prosecutors said.

The Taipei District Court sentenced Lu under the National Security Act and Anti-Corruption Act. Meanwhile, Lin received five years and six months in prison and was deprived of civil rights for three years for violating the National Security Act.

Chen was sentenced to six years and two months for offences under the Anti-Corruption Act, while Ke received five years and four months for violating the National Security Act.

In March, the Taiwan High Court upheld a 2025 ruling by the district court sentencing Lu to 10 years and six months in prison for developing a China-funded espionage network in Taiwan and receiving more than NT$5.7 million for his activities.

The ruling has been appealed to the Supreme Court.

Lu was recruited by Chinese intelligence agents during a trip to China in 2020 to explore diabolo performance opportunities, according to prosecutors.