Taiwan sentences four soldiers for spying for China

Four Taiwanese soldiers, including three from a unit in charge of security for the president's office, have been sentenced to prison for photographing and leaking confidential information to China, a court said.

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Taiwan sentences four soldiers for spying for China

The number of people prosecuted for spying for Beijing has risen sharply in recent years, with retired and serving members of Taiwan's military the main targets of Chinese infiltration efforts, official figures show.

It comes after President Lai Ching-te announced this month plans to reinstate military judges to hear Chinese espionage cases and other offences involving Taiwanese service members.

Three members of a military unit in charge of security for the Presidential Office, and a soldier in the defence ministry's information and telecommunications command were convicted for violating national security law, the Taipei district court said on Wednesday.

The four received jail terms ranging from five years and 10 months to seven years for passing "internal military information that should be kept confidential to Chinese intelligence agents for several months", the court said.

The crimes took place between 2022 and 2024, the court said, adding that the four had received payments ranging from around NT$260,000 to NT$660,000 , it said, without specifying what kind of information was leaked.

The defendants had worked for "extremely sensitive and important units but violated their duties to accept bribes, and stole secrets by photographing," the statement said.


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