After moving to southeastern China’s Fujian province in 2015 to do business, the man, identified by the nickname Huang, and his son were “lured” by two Chinese officials they met to “collect confidential defense documents national level,” the high-ranking public prosecutor of Tainan, Taiwan indicated.
The pair “intended to endanger national security and jointly develop a network in Taiwan to attract and absorb active-duty military,” prosecutors said in a statement released late on Monday.
The Huangs were accused of violating the national security law and the State Secrets Protection Act, while the soldiers were indicted for violating the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces and for corruption.
Accused of recruiting the two soldiers working in the air force’s air defense and missile division, the father and son asked the soldiers to sign a letter pledging “loyalty” to Beijing, as well as to arrange meetings with Chinese officials abroad, he said. the communiqué.
Together, they collected eight items from the Han Kuang exercise – Taiwan’s biggest annual war drills, which took place two weeks ago – and “other confidential military documents” to hand over to Chinese officials, in person or by cell phone, prosecutors said.
China claims Taiwan, a self-governing island, as its territory, and has increased military and political pressure on the island in recent years as tensions have risen.
The two sides have been spying on each other since the end of the civil war between Chinese nationalists and communists in 1949.
The Huang case came after Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense pledged to step up its anti-espionage efforts last week, following the arrest of an army lieutenant colonel who was allegedly gathering intelligence for Beijing.
Several former senior Taiwanese military officials have been accused in recent years of spying on behalf of Beijing.
In March, a retired navy admiral and a former congressman were accused of an alleged attempt to build a network of spies for China.
