Taiwan: 10 former and current soldiers charged with spying for China

As many as 10 former and current Taiwanese military officers were indicted on spying charges for China on Monday (Nov 27), reported news agency AFP.

Four officers were accused of handing over "multiple items of military secrets" to Beijing in lieu of money while threewere accused ofrecruiting active-duty servicemen to collect military information to "develop a network for China", the Taiwan High Prosecutors' Office said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the other two officers, both on active duty, partook in shooting a"psychological warfare" video for Beijing. In the video, they both could be heard saying:"I am willing to surrender to the People's Liberation Army".

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The prosecutors argued that pledging allegiances to an enemy state and its Communist party was an extremely vicious act.

The last defendant stole military secrets from a safe at the military workplace and allegedly handed it over to the Beijing overlords.

"All the defendants had been or are currently servicemen but they betrayed their country and the people just because of personal interests..to seriously jeopardise security," prosecutors argued and demanded the court impose a "harsher sentence to serve as a warning".

Not the first instance

This is not the first instance when the Chinese moles have been identified in the Taiwanese military. Last month, a retired Taiwan Air Force colonel was jailed for 20 years on allegations of running a military spy ring for China.

Identified as oneLiu Sheng-shu, the ex-serviceman was convicted of recruiting active-duty officers, in an attempt to transmit top-secret data to Beijing. Authorities confiscated over $500,000 from him, reported to be illicit earning.

Apart fromLiu, five other officers, ranging from navy to air force were jailed for six to 20-years period.

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China considers Taiwan a part of its territory but the island nation and its people have never accepted Beijing's control.

However, after Beijing staged war games around the island, fired indiscriminate missiles and declared it a no-fly zone last year in an attempt to simulate how it would look to cut Taiwan off in case of a potential conflict, Taipei has taken evasive actions.

The authorities are working round the clock to fix the gaps, especially at home where Beijing has planted moles by the numbers. Since the two sides split in 1949 after the civil war, they have been spying on each other.

(With inputs from agencies)