Two men, a father son duo from Taiwan, surnamed Huang, have been sentenced to eight years in prison for their involvement in an espionage operation that leaked sensitive military information to China, local media reported on August 30.
The Taiwanese Supreme Court upheld their sentences on August 29, rejecting their final appeals, while ordering a retrial for their co-conspirators.
The Huangs, who first encountered Chinese intelligence officials in 2015 during a business trip to Xiamen, were quickly drawn into a spy ring aimed at undermining Taiwan’s national security. Upon their return to Taiwan, they recruited two military officers–Yeh from an air defence unit and Su from a missile unit–into their operation.
These officers were coerced into signing documents pledging their loyalty to the Chinese cause, marking the beginning of a dangerous breach of Taiwan’s military secrets. The Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s most important annual military drills, simulate responses to a potential invasion from China, making them crucial to the island’s defence strategy. The Huangs’ spy ring managed to obtain eight classified documents related to these drills.
These documents contained critical details about Taiwan’s defence capabilities and strategies, which were either physically transported to China or transmitted via encrypted messaging software.
In exchange for their treason, the Huangs were paid NT $1.71 million (approximately USD 53,600) by their Chinese handlers. The recruited officers, Yeh and Su, received NT $210,000 and NT $100,000, respectively. The payments underscore the transactional nature of the operation, with national security being compromised for relatively modest sums, Taiwan News reported.
The espionage case came to light as part of broader efforts by Taiwan’s National Security Bureau to counter Chinese intelligence activities.
In April, the Tainan branch of the Taiwan High Court found the Huangs guilty of violating several laws, including the National Security Act, the Classified National Security Information Protection Act, and anti-corruption legislation. The court ordered the confiscation of their illicit gains and sentenced them to eight years in prison each. Yeh and Su were sentenced to seven and six years in prison, respectively.
While the Supreme Court upheld the sentences for the Huangs, it revoked the verdicts for Yeh and Su, citing the need for further examination of the evidence. The Taiwan High Court has been instructed to conduct a new trial for the two military officers, reflecting the complexities of prosecuting espionage cases, where the burden of proof must be meticulously established.
Taiwan’s government has been increasingly vigilant against such threats, given the critical role that military intelligence plays in maintaining the island’s security. The Han Kuang exercises, in particular, are seen as a cornerstone of Taiwan’s defence strategy, making the leak of their details especially damaging.
(with inputs from ANI)
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