Taiwan indicts four suspected spies for China in case reaching presidential office
FILE PHOTO: Security guards stand guard in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, Taiwan May 23, 2024. REUTERS/Annabelle Chih/File photo
TAIPEI - Taipei prosecutors indicted four people on Tuesday suspected of spying for China in a case that reached Taiwan's presidential office, seeking jail terms of more than 18 years.
Democratically-governed Taiwan says it has faced heightened military and political pressure over the past five years or so from Beijing, which views the island as sovereign Chinese territory, a position Taipei's government rejects.
In a statement, Taipei prosecutors said the four, all previously members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, had been indicted on espionage and other charges.
One of them was a former assistant to then foreign minister Joseph Wu, now head of the National Security Council, while another was a former presidential office adviser, sources familiar with the matter have previously told Reuters.
The Taipei prosecutors said in a statement that their suspected crimes included divulging or delivering classified national security information to China.
Jail sentences of 18 years or more are being sought, the statement added.
Reuters was not able to immediately locate contact details for legal representatives of any of those indicted.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Last week, Taiwan's presidential office said it could not comment on the cases given the ongoing legal proceedings.
But it said that any person, regardless of party affiliation, who has "betrayed the country, collaborated with hostile external forces and committed crimes that hurt the whole nation" should be subject to the most severe punishment. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
18 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Police arrest 12 as wave of syringe attacks mar France street music festival
Participants perform on musical instruments during Fete de la Musique in Paris, on June 21. PHOTO: EPA-EFE PARIS - French police have detained twelve suspects after 145 people reported being pricked with syringes during the country's annual street music festival, officials said June 22. Millions of people took to the streets across France on the evening of June 21 for the Fete de la Musique, with authorities reporting 'unprecedented crowds' in Paris. Before the party, posts on social media had called for women to be targeted during the festivities. The interior ministry said 145 victims across the country had reported being stabbed with needles. Paris police reported 13 cases in the capital. Officials did not say if these were cases of so-called needle spiking with date-rape drugs such as Rohypnol or GHB, used by attackers to render victims confused or inconscious and vulnerable to sexual assault. 'Some victims were taken to hospital for toxicological tests,' the ministry said. In Paris, investigations were opened after three people including a 15-year-old girl and an 18-year-old male, reported being stabbed in separate incidents across Paris, prosecutors said. All three reported feeling unwell. Millions of people took to the streets across France for the Fete de la Musique, with authorities reporting 'unprecedented crowds' in Paris. PHOTO: EPA-EFE Across France, 12 suspects have been arrested, the interior ministry said. Among them were four people in the south-western city of Angouleme suspected of having targeted around 50 victims, said a police source. Apart from those suspects, more than 370 people were detained during the festival on various charges, including nearly 90 people in Paris. Fourteen participants in the festivities were seriously injured, including a 17-year-old hospitalised after being found sitting on the street with stab wounds to the lower abdomen. Thirteen members of law enforcement were also injured. The prefect of the Paris police, Laurent Nunez, said that 'no major incident has been reported'. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
IAEA says entrances to tunnels at Iran's Isfahan site hit by US strike
Satellite image shows a close up view of destroyed buildings at Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, after it was hit by U.S. airstrikes, in Isfahan, Iran, June 22, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT. MUST NOT OBSCURE LOGO. Satellite image shows a close up view of buildings at Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, before it was hit by U.S. airstrikes, in Isfahan, Iran, June 16, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT. MUST NOT OBSCURE LOGO. IAEA says entrances to tunnels at Iran's Isfahan site hit by US strike VIENNA - Entrances to tunnels used to store part of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile at the sprawling Isfahan nuclear complex were hit in U.S. military strikes overnight, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Sunday. "We have established that entrances to underground tunnels at the site were impacted," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement. Officials have previously said much of Iran's most highly enriched uranium was stored underground at Isfahan. In a statement to the U.N. Security Council soon after the IAEA statement was issued, the agency's chief Rafael Grossi appeared to confirm the tunnels hit were part of the area used for the storage of that stockpile. "Entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit," he said, referring to Isfahan. Iranian officials have said measures would be taken to protect the country's nuclear material without informing the IAEA. Grossi said Iran could do that in a way that respects its so-called safeguards obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. "Any special measures by Iran to protect its nuclear materials and equipment can be done in accordance with Iran's safeguards obligations and the agency. This is possible," Grossi told the Security Council. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Netanyahu says Israel close to meeting its goals in Iran
Israel is very close to completing its goal of removing the dual threats of Iran's ballistic missiles and nuclear programme, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. He promised not to let Israel be dragged into a war of attrition but also said he would not end the Iran campaign prematurely. "We won't pursue our actions beyond what is needed to achieve them, but we also won't finish too soon. When the objectives are achieved, then the operation is complete and the fighting will stop," he told Israeli reporters. "I have no doubt that this is a regime that wants to wipe us out, and that's why we embarked on this operation to eliminate the two concrete threats to our existence: the nuclear threat, the ballistic missile threat. We are moving step by step towards achieving these goals. We are very, very close to completing them," he said. He said Iran's Fordow nuclear site had been very badly damaged by U.S. bunker-buster bombs overnight but the extent of damage remained to be seen. Tehran has vowed to defend itself at all costs. Asked about the whereabouts of Iran's 60% enriched uranium, Netanyahu said: "We've been following that very closely. I can tell you that it's an important component of a nuclear programme. "It's not the sole component. It's not a sufficient component. But it is an important component and we have interesting intel on that, which you will excuse me if I don't share with you," he said. At least until Israel's first strikes against its enrichment installations on June 13, Iran was refining uranium to up to 60% purity, a short step from the roughly 90% that is bomb-grade and far higher than the 3.67% cap imposed by a 2015 nuclear deal, which Iran respected until the year after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out in 2018. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
