Eight Taiwanese military personnel were found guilty of espionage for Beijing on Thursday and given sentences of up to 13 years in jail; the court stated that their motivation was financial.
In recent years, China has increased military and political pressure on the democratic island of Taiwan, claiming it as its own territory.
Following a civil war, the two sides parted ways in 1949 and have been spies on one another ever since.
The defendants in Thursday’s sentencing were active-duty soldiers “willing to collect intelligence for China that caused the leak of important secrets,” a Taiwan High Court statement said. “They were seduced by money.”
Among them was a man surnamed Hsiao, who was the key to recruiting soldiers to join “a network for China” to gather and hand over information, the court said.
He received the heaviest jail term: 13 years.
Another was sentenced to five-and-a-half years for shooting a “psychological warfare video to indicate his willingness to surrender to the People’s Liberation Army”, while one man received a nine-year sentence for “conspiring to defect” to China by flying a military helicopter.
“Their actions violated their official duties of being loyal to the country, defending the country and the people… to seriously endanger national security and the well-being of the people of Taiwan,” the court said.
All eight men can appeal the ruling.
In November of last year, prosecutors first filed 10 indictments in this case. For want of proof, one was found not guilty.
The individual who recruited Hsiao was revealed to be the other, a former soldier with the last name Chen.
But after Chen ran away to China, the court said that it would deal with his case independently. Taiwan is presently looking for him.
The most recent in a run of spying instances, Thursday’s sentencing took place.
A sergeant at a military training center was charged last month with taking pictures and giving Beijing access to sensitive defense documents.
