Taiwan indicted two former soldiers and a chief of staff: the prosecution charged Chinese intelligence with collecting Hwang-gwang's secret from money and contacts

The High Public Prosecutor ' s Office of Taiwan, the Public Prosecutor ' s Department of Takahsiung, has investigated a case involving military secrets, prosecuted former Air Force Sergeant Chen, retired Officer Mao and Chief Sergeant Lu, who was still serving in the army during the crime. The prosecution alleges that Chen has been under the direction and funding of Chinese intelligence officers since the end of 2020 and has obtained information on the parameters of the army ' s combat vehicles, the defence firm and the Han-gwang exercises through the old-age army. The case is not a single-document outflow, but a suspected intelligence chain whereby Chinese personnel issue requests, using former soldiers as a interface, and then obtain military information from active military personnel.

The prosecution named "Chief" Liu: Chen was accused of receiving instructions and funding

According to the prosecution ' s disclosure of the investigation, Chen has established contact with Chinese agents after his discharge. The prosecution alleges that he began to receive instructions and financial support from the so-called CCP Secretary-General's Intelligence Workers' Organization “who are the Chief” Liu et al. and to seek and collect military defence information on Taiwan in accordance with the needs of the other party.

This allegation further adds the chain of responsibility in cases from what is generally called “cross-Straits exchanges” to mission directives, financial support and access to information. The evidence of the true identity of the “Chief of the Service”, the unit to which the prosecution refers, and the communication between the parties, and the exchange of funds, will be an important part of the examination of the charges before the court.

Lou was in active at the time: the battle car parameters, defense reinforcement and Hwang-gwang exercise data were included

Unlike the three previously referred to as “retired soldiers”, prosecution information indicates that Lu was still a non-commissioned officer in the army when he provided Chen Chi with relevant information. The prosecution alleges that Chen used the old-fashioned relationship of the army to obtain military information from Lu-Cai on the parameters of the army combat vehicle, the defence station and the Han-gwang exercise, and then to process or deliver it at the request of Chinese personnel.

The Han-gwang exercise is an important annual military exercise in Taiwan, involving force mobilization, command, force deployment, logistical support and military synergy. The Prosecution has included relevant information in the prosecution case, which has focused its case not only on access to persons but also on how information within the active military system is moving out of the country through private relationships.

Meeting in Ju-hai in 2024: The prosecution claims that Chen is a soldier in active service

The prosecution also charged that in 2024 Chen and Mao retired officers went to Chuhai, China, to have a dinner with persons like “General Liu”. The prosecution claims that Chen has been in the process of persuading him to use past military ties to contact active military personnel in order to continue to obtain defence military secrets.

If the court ultimately finds these facts on the basis of evidence, this link will show that the activity involved does not stop at the transmission of information from the individual to the individual, but involves the search for new military points and the expansion of sources of information. These elements are currently the prosecution ' s indictment and the relevant offences remain before the courts.

Digital forensics, seizure and financial accounts entering the chain of evidence

The prosecution stated that the case was filed with the relevant gendarmerie, police and defence services in June of this year. The investigation process includes digital forensics, seizure surveys, verification of statements by persons concerned and financial account transactions, and, on that basis, tracing the connection between persons, the flow of funds and the process of obtaining military information.

Following the prosecution ' s investigation, the persons concerned were prosecuted under the relevant provisions of the National Security Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure for the Land, Sea and Air Force, the Corruption Ordinance and the State Secrets Protection Act. The prosecution ' s view that the evidence has reached the threshold for trial before the court is not equivalent to the three persons found guilty by the court.

From the veterans' veins into the active system: the anti-intelligence risks exposed in this case

This case is of concern in the context of the Prosecution ' s description of a specific course of suspected intelligence operations: demand and funding from persons outside the country, the use of the previously served lifelines by former servicemen to find sources of information, and active service personnel as a key node for military information to enter the chain.

Taiwan has in recent years investigated a number of cases in which active or retired military personnel are suspected of providing military information to the Chinese side, but the organizational relationship and evidence of the different cases must be determined separately. The case ' s ability to prove the Chinese command relationship described by the prosecution ultimately remains dependent on the court ' s examination of the record of communications, the flow of funds, the results of digital forensics, the nature of military information and the conduct of the three.