TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Chinese espionage has become a rampant problem in Taiwan, and it must be stopped.
The only way to deter those considering spying for China is to increase the penalties significantly. Longer prison times and heftier fines would make potential spies think twice before aligning with Beijing.
President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) pointed out last month that 28 active-duty and 15 retired members of the armed forces were charged with suspicion of involvement in spying for China last year. National Security Bureau Director Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said that Chinese spy cases have increased dramatically and are “a severe challenge to national security work,” per a Global Taiwan Institute report published earlier this month.
More Taiwanese active-duty military officers involved in day-to-day operations have been targeted in the past decade, according to GTI. Beijing’s use of money as an incentive has also grown in terms of amount and how financial vulnerabilities are exploited.
Wake up call
The Chinese Communist Party has also focused on cultivating pro-Beijing sentiment among Taiwan’s three major political parties. While the KMT and TPP already have regular exchanges with China, the DPP’s independence stance has not stopped Beijing from attempting to seek out individuals within the party that may be more China-friendly, GTI said.
The institute said that each espionage case represents “a loss of trust and a loss of integrity” in Taiwan’s security.
Last month, an aide to former Legislative Speaker and DPP founding member You Si-kun (游錫堃) was accused of receiving payments from Chinese intelligence agencies in exchange for confidential legislative documents. The aide traveled to China around 2019 and purportedly made contact with Chinese intelligence personnel.
In April, a former aide for National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) was detained incommunicado for reportedly passing on classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to China when Wu was foreign minister from 2018 to 2024.
These two recent cases are a wake-up call for Taiwan to take immediate action to address the factors and dismantle the environment that allows Chinese espionage to occur. The fact that Beijing has contacts in the DPP, which China considers “separatist forces,” demonstrates how deep its covert operations run within Taiwan’s government.
Longer prison time
The Legislative Yuan should establish a higher minimum prison sentence and set the maximum to life imprisonment or the death penalty in the most severe espionage cases. Such long sentences would make the risk of spying not worth it.
Alongside reforming penalties, the government must find a way to boost salaries and benefits for Armed Forces servicemembers and civil servants. The motivation for most spies is often financial, which means better pay would address the root of the problem.
Improving morale in the military would also help prevent personnel from switching allegiance. The defense ministry needs to ensure that soldiers are well-trained and equipped with the necessary weapons and tools to carry out their missions successfully.
Taiwan’s laws for espionage are far too lenient. Under the National Security Act, prison sentences mostly range from three to 10 years. Meanwhile, the penalties in the Anti-infiltration Act do not exceed five years of prison time.
This lax attitude is reflected in many recent espionage cases. In February, an Army lieutenant colonel surnamed Hsieh (謝) was found guilty of planning to fly and land a CH-47 Chinook helicopter on a Chinese Navy ship in exchange for US$15 million (NT$490 million). He was only sentenced to nine years of prison time.
Hsieh was part of a spy ring whose other members were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 18 months to seven years and four months. The alleged mastermind behind the spy ring, Hsiao Hsiang-yun (蕭翔云), received 13 years.
Last month, four former soldiers were found guilty of sharing classified documents with Chinese agents.
Three of the men, sergeant Lai Chung-yu (賴重宇), sergeant Lee Yu-hsi (黎育璽), and corporal Lin Yu-kai (林裕凱) were guards at the Presidential Office Building. The fourth, Chen Wen-hao (陳文豪), served in the defense ministry’s Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command.
Lai was sentenced to seven years of prison time, while Lee received six years and eight months, and Chen received six years and five months in prison. Lin was sentenced to five years and 10 months.
Current measures insufficient
The Ministry of National Defense proposed an amendment to the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces to punish active-duty military personnel who swear allegiance to China with a maximum prison sentence of seven years. This is still insufficient.
In comparison, the US has not hesitated to hand down lengthy sentences for citizens who shared confidential information.
For example, Robert P. Hanssen, a former FBI agent, confessed to selling US secrets to Moscow in 2001 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. During multiple periods between 1979 and 2001, he spied for Russia and earned more than US$1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
In 2013, US Army soldier Chelsea Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for uploading nearly 750,000 secret or unclassified military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks. However, Obama commuted her sentence in 2017.
President Lai announced measures last month following a national security meeting that are a step in the right direction, including restoring the military court and reforming penalties in the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces. He also called for a more stringent review process for Chinese individuals coming to Taiwan. Visits should “be limited to normal cross-strait exchanges and official interactions under the principles of parity and dignity,” the president said.
To come up with a complete approach to countering Chinese infiltration, Lai must rethink prison sentences for spies.
