TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An Army officer stationed on the island of Kinmen close to China was recorded promising to surrender if China attacked, reports said Tuesday (Nov. 22).

Colonel Hsiang Te-en (向德恩), 49, posed in uniform for a photograph in Jan. 2020, holding a written note pledging his allegiance to China. He had been paid NT$40,000 ($1,280) a month by Shao Wei-chiang (邵維強), the retired journalist who recruited him to work on behalf of China, UDN reported.

The two men reportedly first met at Hsiang’s wedding in 2011, but when the couple divorced years later, Shao persuaded him not to leave the military but to stay and provide him with sensitive information for a fixed monthly payment. The colonel occupied several important military positions in Kinmen from 2016 to 2018 and later moved to other strategically important offices, per UDN.

After a period of military service, Shao ran a travel agency and worked as a reporter in Kinmen for 27 years, allowing him access to senior military officers in the island county within view of the Chinese province of Fujian.

The investigation by prosecutors concluded that Hsiang had accepted a total of NT$560,000, leading them to demand a prison sentence of at least 12 years. However, the investigation into the nature of any information the colonel might have passed on to China is ongoing, with the possibility he might face additional charges under the National Security Act.

Shao reportedly had the habit of taking detailed notes of payments to officers before passing them on to his handlers in China to offer evidence of his work on their behalf. The notes have reportedly become an important source of information for the prosecutors to uncover his network.