Taipei: A retired lieutenant colonel who unsuccessfully tried to recruit intelligence assets for China has had a five-year, four-month prison sentence upheld by Taiwan's Supreme Court.
According to Focus Taiwan, the court's April 1 ruling revealed that Kung Fan-chia met multiple times with People's Liberation Army intelligence operative Yang Libo during overseas trips between 2006 and 2008. At the time, Kung was serving as an active-duty officer with the Ministry of National Defense's Military News Agency. These trips were organized and funded by former Taiwanese Army officer Shao Wei-chiang, who died in June last year while serving a 12-and-a-half-year sentence for violations of the National Security Act and the Banking Act. Shao's company, Kinmen-based Safety Travel Service Co., facilitated the arrangements.
During his meetings with Yang, Kung agreed to help develop a spy network among active and retired military personnel, receiving thousands of U.S. dollars in exchange. After retiring in 2012, Kung continued to receive payments from Chinese officials and attempted to invite military personnel to travel to China or third countries to facilitate contact. In one instance, an active-duty officer declined the invitation, while in another, a retired serviceman did not proceed.
In June last year, Kung's initial sentence of five years and six months for breaches of the Anti-Corruption Act and National Security Act was reduced to five years and four months by the High Court, citing his confession and return of illicit gains. The Supreme Court rejected the prosecutors' appeal, affirming that the lower court's ruling and sentence were appropriate. The verdict is final.