TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Prosecutors in Tainan charged 23 individuals, including eight serving military officers, with spying for China on Wednesday (Sept. 18).
The spy ring was set up by two brothers named Hsu (許) who attracted potential spies with the promise they could resolve their debt problems, per the Liberty Times. China reportedly paid out NT$5 million (US$156,000) over more than two years in return for sensitive information supplied by the ring.
The group included eight officers from the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard Administration. The Hsu brothers started operations in 2021, when they paid frequent visits to Macau and the adjacent Zhuhai Special Economic Zone, where they met two Chinese intelligence agents.
Each time they recruited a new member for their spy ring, the Chinese would pay them between NT$2,000 and NT$30,000, prosecutors said. They used ads and pawn shop owners to find officers with financial problems.
The military men recruited for the spy ring were stationed all over the country, but were mostly lower in rank and had limited access to important information. During the investigation, prosecutors confiscated 69 phones, 103 computer hard drives and flash drives, nine secret military documents, and one confidential government document.
In a reaction to the indictments, the Ministry of National Defense said it had taken all necessary measures to reduce the damage caused by the officers’ betrayal. The defense ministry is also educating serving officers about the need to protect confidential documents, while teaching them how to improve their financial situation, the Liberty Times reported.
