TAIPEI – Taipei prosecutors indicted four people on June 10 for allegedly spying for China in a case that reached Taiwan’s presidential office, seeking jail terms of more than 18 years.
Democratically governed Taiwan says it has faced heightened military and political pressure over the past five years or so from Beijing, which views the island as sovereign Chinese territory, a position Taipei’s government rejects.
In a statement, Taipei prosecutors said the four, all previously members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), were indicted on espionage and other charges.
One of them was a former assistant to then Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, now head of the National Security Council, while another was a former presidential office adviser, sources familiar with the matter have previously told Reuters.
The Taipei prosecutors said in a statement that their suspected crimes included divulging or delivering classified national security information to China.
Jail sentences of 18 years or more are being sought, the statement added.
The suspects allegedly collected national security information for China in exchange for rewards amounting to NT$6 million (S$257,760) and NT$2.2 million each, prosecutors said.
Last week, Taiwan’s presidential office said it could not comment on the cases given the ongoing legal proceedings.
But it said that any person, regardless of party affiliation, who has “betrayed the country, collaborated with hostile external forces and committed crimes that hurt the whole nation” should be subject to the most severe punishment.
Beijing has steadily increased its military and political pressure on Taiwan, which China sees as part of its territory to be brought under its control, by force if necessary.
The number of Chinese fighter jets crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait – an unofficial boundary separating the two sides – has more than doubled from a year ago, according to the Defence Ministry in Taipei. China has also carried out at least seven sets of military drills around Taiwan since Mr Lai took office in May 2024, a pace not seen in previous years. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
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