On Thursday, the Taiwan High Court sentenced eight Taiwanese military officers to prison on charges of spying for China in exchange for financial gain, according to Voice of America.
Experts cited in the report suggest that the case reflects a shift in China’s espionage tactics in Taiwan. The sentences range from 18 months to 13 years in prison, marking one of Taiwan’s largest espionage cases in recent years.
The court stated that the defendants were “willing to collect intelligence for China, leading to the leak of important secrets” and that they “were lured by money.”
An individual named Chen Yuxin was found to have contacted and recruited the defendants at key military sites to form a spy network for China. Chen is believed to have fled to China and remains there, according to VOA.
The defendants were also accused of planning to fly a CH-47 Chinook military helicopter to a Chinese aircraft carrier in the Taiwan Strait and of filming a video indicating their willingness to surrender to Beijing in the event of war, according to Taiwan’s official Central News Agency.
“The impact could have been severe if Taiwan’s authorities had not stopped the espionage and defection of military assets like a helicopter in time,” said Timothy Heath, a senior international defense researcher with the RAND Corporation.
“It is demoralizing to read of Taiwan soldiers voluntarily making videos that advertise their willingness to surrender to China,” he added.
Notably, the sentencing of these eight military officers is the latest in a growing number of espionage cases linked to China on the democratically ruled island, according to Taiwanese authorities.
Russell Hsiao, executive director of the Global Taiwan Institute and senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, said the latest sentences reflect a shift in tactics by Chinese intelligence.
“This group of convicted agents involves relatively younger individuals than in previous cases, which often targeted older military retirees,” he said.
Hsiao explained that while older targets in past cases were motivated by a mix of ideology and financial gain, “the motivation in these recent cases appears to be primarily financial.”
He also noted that the sentences handed down by the court are arguably more severe than in previous cases, despite the relatively limited value of the intelligence collected and passed on by these agents. This may be intended to send a deterrent signal to potential spies.
China claims democratic Taiwan as its territory and has increased military and political pressure in the Taiwan Strait in recent years. Both sides have been engaged in espionage activities for decades.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, stated, “This is not a foreign policy issue, but a question concerning the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, which belong to the one and same China.”
Hsiao mentioned that there has been an upward trend in espionage cases involving Taiwanese military personnel over the past decade, a claim supported by Taiwan’s Control Yuan, the government’s oversight branch. The Control Yuan reported a significant increase in the number of espionage-related cases uncovered by Taiwan’s military security units in recent years, with the targets and methods of infiltration differing from those in the past.
The Control Yuan’s statement revealed that from 2011 to 2023, there were 40 espionage cases, three times the number recorded from 2001 to 2010. These cases involved a total of 113 military and civilian personnel, resulting in the leakage of numerous “top secrets.”
“This certainly shows that Beijing is intent on penetrating Taiwan’s military and security services, so Taipei will have to stay vigilant against these efforts in the years ahead,” said Zack Cooper, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, in an email to VOA.
A Taiwanese sergeant who worked at a navy training center was indicted last month for allegedly photographing and leaking confidential defense information to Beijing.
In June, the court upheld sentences given to two retired Taiwanese Air Force officers for helping or attempting to help China recruit intelligence assets in Taiwan.
“The cases demonstrate that Chinese-directed subversion and espionage remain major threats to Taiwan,” Heath said. “The biggest impact is the continued erosion of public trust and even U.S. trust in Taiwan’s government and military to control the threat of Chinese subversion and espionage.”
The Control Yuan has urged Taiwan’s government to increase its defense budget to counter China’s espionage activities.
On Thursday, Taiwan’s Cabinet announced that defense spending for 2025 would increase by 7.7% to USD 20.25 billion, VOA reported.
With inputs from ANI
