Retired Air Force captain and three active officers detained in espionage case

Retired Air Force captain and three active officers detained in espionage case

2023-01-05

The Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office has detained four individuals on suspicion of spying for China. The head of the operations is a retired Air Force captain surnamed Liu, who recruited active service personnel in Taiwan to collect in intelligence to send to China. Three other active military officers have also been investigated and released on bail in connection with the case.

A whiteboard at the Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office shows four suspects have been detained on suspicion of spying for China. They are a retired Air Force captain surnamed Liu, and three active military officers in the Air Force and Navy: a commander surnamed Sun, and two lieutenant commanders surnamed Liu and Kung.

Sun Li-fang
Defense ministry spokesperson
The case is currently under judicial investigation. The Ministry of National Defense will cooperate with all prosecutors during their extremely thorough investigations.

According to prosecutors, former Captain Liu went to do business in China after his retirement from the Air Force in 2013. But then, he was recruited by Chinese intelligence agencies to serve as a spy. He returned to Taiwan and set up a shell company, where he received payments of between NT$200,000 and NT$700,000 from the Chinese government. During that time, he used his connections in the military to recruit at least six officers to collect intelligence on Taiwan’s military, for payments of between NT$30,000 and NT$100,000. Operations lasted for up to eight years. After a long period collecting evidence, the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office conducted a raid of Liu’s residence on Tuesday, and searches of Air Force and Navy camps.

Sun Li-fang
Defense ministry spokesperson
Our officers realized something was up, and they reported it. The relevant agencies immediately started monitoring the situation and launching damage-control mechanisms. We will continue to strengthen the education of our troops, and remain in close cooperation with national security agencies, to prevent the PRC from collecting intelligence on us and breaching our national defenses.

A total of seven individuals were taken for questioning. Four of them remain in detention, while three were freed on bail of NT$100,000 to NT$200,000. The number of individuals involved may increase as investigations continue.

7校官涉共諜案4收押國防部:加強教育防情蒐

2023-01-05

國軍再爆發重大共諜案。這回涉案的退役、現役軍官高達7人，源頭是赴中國經商的退役空軍劉姓上校，經對岸吸收後，成立空殼公司，接受中國情資單位報酬，拉攏現役服務於空軍或海軍的6名校級軍官、蒐集情資。高雄高分院昨天聲押禁見劉姓上校等4人，其餘3人以10萬至20萬元不等交保。

高雄高分院的白板上，登記有4人涉國安法，因為國軍再爆發共諜案，遭聲押獲准的是1位退役的劉姓空軍上校，以及3位現役、服務於空軍或海軍的孫姓中校、劉姓和龔姓少校。

[[國防部發言人孫立方]]
“目前這個案子已經進入整個司法偵審的程序，國防部會配合檢調單位做非常周延的調查”

檢調調查，劉姓空軍上校，2013年退伍後，轉往中國經商，卻遭中方情治單位吸收。而返台後，一邊經營空殼公司，收受中國20萬到70萬；一邊利用軍中人脈，拉攏6名現役的軍官，提供包括國防情資，給予3萬到10萬報酬，運作長達8年。高雄高分檢長期蒐證後，週二到劉姓上校住處，以及空軍及海軍營區搜索。

[[國防部發言人孫立方]]
“是我們官兵發現異狀以後，把他向上檢舉出來，我們相關單位立刻做監控，做損害的管控。我們也會持續加強整個官兵的教育，跟國安單位做緊密的結合，以防杜中共對我們做情蒐，破壞我們的國家安全”

七位被偵訊的涉案人，有4人聲押，另外3名少校，准以10萬到20萬元交保，但不排除還有其他軍官涉案，持續擴大偵辦中。

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After the Omicron variant emerged, the disease’s severity did not worsen. It’s different from the flu in that its mortality and virulence have continued going down. So its characteristics make it more like the cold. If every year, most COVID infections result in mild symptoms mostly, then there won’t be a need to get vaccinated every year. If it becomes like the common cold, then annual vaccination won’t be necessary.

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In commenting on the video of the interview, Wu made sure to bring the discussion back to the issue of the election.

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First, there are some data and infographic designs. It is displayed by the trash bin. Second is that we have re-designed the trash bin into a problem-solving system, including the holes of the trash bin have been limited to certain shapes so that people cannot throw the whole package of trash into it. They have to stand right in front of the trash bin to recycle. The third is that we made the classification into a more detailed version so that people can find the specific item and specific category for the trash.

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