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Taiwan has long battled against what it says is a sustained
espionage campaign run by Beijing to undermine Taiwan's armed
forces and sow dissent in the ranks. China views Taiwan as a
"sacred" part of its territory and has never renounced the use
of force to bring the island under its control.
The prosecutors' office in southern Taiwan's Kaohsiung city told
Reuters they were seeking a 12-year sentence for an army colonel
who had over the last four years received T$560,000 ($17,975.80)
in bribes from a Chinese agent who was also a retired Taiwanese
officer.
The retired officer persuaded the colonel, who had been thinking
of leaving the armed forces, to stay in service so he could
gradually rise up the ranks and act as a spy, it said.
The colonel signed a letter to promise that he would surrender
in the event of war with China, the office added.
Reuters was not able to locate contact details for the colonel,
who the prosecutors named as Hsiang Te-en, or a legal
representative for comment.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for
comment.
Taiwan's Defence Ministry said that the officer was suspected of
violating national security and anti-corruption laws and that it
would continue to cooperate with the investigation.
"This case highlights that the Chinese communists have become a
serious threat against us when it comes to infiltrating,
recruitment, collection of intelligence and theft of secrets,"
the ministry said.
The ministry will continue to strengthen counter-intelligence
education for officers and soldiers and deepen security
investigations, it added.
($1 = 31.1530 Taiwan dollars)
(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Ana
Nicolaci da Costa)
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