Taiwan has seen a series of espionage cases, with Minister of National Defense of the Republic of China, Gu Li-xiong, stating today (24th) that these espionage cases were all exposed by internal military personnel, leading to the uncovering of spy cases. This shows that defense education has had a certain effect, and the Ministry of National Defense will continue to conduct defense education actions.
Members of the Taiwan Control Yuan, Pu Zhongcheng, Lin Wencheng, and Cai Chongyi, released a statement on the 23rd, indicating that the joint meeting of the Diplomacy, National Defense, Judiciary, and Prison Administration Committee of the Control Yuan on the 17th approved investigation reports on three individuals. These reports focused on Air Force Colonel Sun Wei-zhong and Major Liu Yun-ya, a married couple who were military officers, under the command of retired Air Force Colonel Liu Sheng-shu and engaged in long-term espionage for a Chinese Communist intelligence unit by infiltrating into the Ministry of National Defense and other units.
Furthermore, a woman surnamed Li, the chairperson of a temple in Lujhou District, New Taipei City, with connections to the underworld, allegedly received instructions from the Chinese Communist Party to recruit current and retired Taiwanese military personnel. She enticed them into shooting surrender videos and collecting military secrets to deliver to China. Today, the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office filed charges against 10 individuals for violating the National Security Act and other crimes.
The Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China invited Defense Minister Gu Li-xiong today to report on the current and future development opportunities and challenges of the military drones usage, as well as the progress and overview of the development of the Minxion Aviation and Unmanned Aircraft Industrial Park coordinated with the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology. They were also prepared for questioning.
Before the meeting, Gu Li-xiong gave a media interview stating, “The Ministry of National Defense continues to strengthen the defense awareness of military personnel and has established good mechanisms for confidentiality. In fact, these espionage cases were all exposed by internal military personnel, leading to the busting of spy cases, which shows that defense education has yielded certain results. The military personnel also possess a certain level of vigilance, and we will continue to carry out defense education initiatives.”
The Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China issued a press release today, indicating that between October 2023 and March 2024, they received active reports from military personnel and national security notifications which revealed the involvement of a woman named Li, who through loan services, contacted current and retired personnel to develop an organization that lured them into gathering confidential military information. After reporting to the National Security Bureau, the Political Warfare Bureau cooperated closely with the Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Military Police Command to request the Yilan District Prosecutors Office to lead the investigation, resulting in the joint crackdown on the illegal criminal organization.
The Taiwan Ministry of National Defense explained that the Yilan District Prosecutors Office presented relevant evidence on October 23 and concluded the investigation with charges related to violations of the Criminal Code, while the case involving violations of National Security Law has been transferred to the High Prosecutors Office. The entire case is now in the judicial process, and due to the principle of non-disclosure during investigations, the Ministry of National Defense will not comment further on the specific details of the case.
The Ministry of National Defense of Taiwan emphasized, “The Chinese Communist Party’s intelligence activities against Taiwan are widespread. The military consistently implements defense and confidentiality education, strengthens security awareness, condemns acts that betray the country due to monetary enticement, and will prosecute them according to the law. In recent years, most of the espionage cases uncovered were due to active reports by military personnel. In the future, we will continue to conduct rigorous audits on information confidentiality, proactively identify suspicious signs, uphold mutual cooperation among national security teams, and enhance defense and investigation capabilities to ensure the overall security of the military.”