2 air force officers in Taiwan indicted for espionage

By Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) - Two Taiwanese Air Force officers, one retired and one active, were indicted for leaking missile operation secrets to China, the Taichung Branch of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office said Wednesday.

The officers have been indicted under the National Security Act and other charges following an investigation, reported Central News Agency. Both reportedly confessed to the alleged crimes, and after further investigations, prosecutors secured approval for their detention.

The Taiwan High Court's Taichung Branch is trying the case in a closed session. While former Air Force Major Shi was released on bail last week, officer Hsu remains in custody.

According to prosecutors, Shi was recruited by Chinese spies and tasked with recruiting others to gather military intelligence. In 2021, he reportedly brought Hsu into the scheme, falsely claiming ties to the US military. Shih then instructed Hsu to provide classified details on the Air Force’s response to Chinese incursions in exchange for financial compensation.

Hsu allegedly supplied secret training documents containing sensitive information on the deployment of Hsiung Feng III missiles on fighter jets. A search of Shi’s home last August uncovered electronic evidence linking Hsu to the case.

Shi reportedly passed the information to Chinese intelligence in exchange for NT$1.5 million ($45,000), from which he passed on to Hsu an amount of NT$200,000 ($6,070).

The Hsiung Feng III is a medium-range supersonic missile designed to strike both land-based targets and naval targets.