Authorities in Taiwan have arrested a lieutenant colonel within the particular forces as a part of a harmful investigation into spying for China by senior army officers, the state information company stated Wednesday.
Investigators raided the command headquarters of the military’s aviation and particular forces command within the northern metropolis of Tauyuan earlier this week, the official Central Information Company reported.
The spy sweep comes amid rising tensions between China and the U.S. over American arms gross sales to unbiased Taiwan, and rising concern over Chinese language espionage.
Beijing is changing into extra profitable at “reaching into Taiwan” to deprave army officers, Weng Wei-lun, a lawyer and former prosecutor informed the Taipei Occasions.
Along with the lieutenant colonel, who was solely recognized by his surname, Hsieh, 4 retired officers and a intermediary had been implicated within the probe. The intermediary was additionally detained.
Hsieh was accused of passing nationwide protection secrets and techniques to Chinese language or different international brokers, and of constructing a spy ring composed of present and retired army personnel, prosecutors stated.
“Going through infiltration by the Chinese language Communist Get together, the nationwide forces will proceed to spice up counter-espionage training and lift consciousness,” the protection ministry stated.
The ministry condemned unnamed folks it stated had been “promoting out the nation and folks.”
A retired military main and three different folks had been questioned within the case and launched on bail between 20,000 New Taiwan {Dollars} ($630) and 600,000 New Taiwan {Dollars} ($19,000), the Taipei Occasions reported.
Final month, Taiwanese authorities detained 5 folks, together with a Chinese language yo-yo teacher, on suspicion of spying for China.
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