TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former Military Intelligence Bureau Director Liu De-liang (劉德良) has called on the government to increase penalties for espionage to discourage spying.
He described the light penalties for espionage as a cause of systemic disorder and called on Taiwan’s judiciary to take national security more seriously, per Liberty Times. Liu, who recently made these points in an article titled “A Brief Discussion of Spy Infiltration into Taiwan” in an internal DPP newsletter, reiterated them in an appearance with talk show host Liao Hsiao-chun (廖筱君).
Liu pointed to the case of former Major General Lin Cheng‑chia (林承家), who served as chief of staff at Kinmen Defense Command. He was found guilty of sending a military washing machine valued at NT$7,990 (about US$242) to his personal residence. For stealing the washing machine, along with several offenses of similar weight, Lin was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.
Contrast this with the 2015 case of Zhen Xiao-jiang (鎮小江), Liu said, referring to a former PLA lieutenant colonel. He entered Taiwan under the identity of a Hong Kong resident and proceeded to set up a spy network in three cities, recruiting over 10 active-duty and retired Taiwan military officers. Zhen received a prison sentence of four years, sparking outrage that in part led to the promulgation of the 2019 Anti-Infiltration Act.
Liu also noted the case of Zhang Chao-ran (張超然), a retired military intelligence colonel who once branded himself “Taiwan’s No. 1 spy.” Zhang recruited other former military officers and collaborated with Chinese handlers to deliver sensitive personnel and organizational information, per UDN. Earlier this year, Zhang was sentenced to 18 months in jail.
