A Taiwanese soldier sentenced to seven years in prison for offering intelligence information to China

25 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Kaohsiung District Court of Taiwan has sentenced a military man to seven years in prison this Saturday for accepting bribes from China to provide Taiwanese intelligence information.

The sentence imposed on Hsiang Te En, 49, has been imposed after the Taiwanese Justice has declared it proven that the military began to receive about 40,000 Taiwanese dollars (about 1,200 euros) per month in exchange for information after being recruited by Beijing as a spy, according to information from the Central News Agency (CNA).

In addition, the court has also stripped the head of the Army Infantry Training Command’s Operations Research and Development Division of his political and civil rights for four years, confiscating NT$560,000 (17,320 euros) obtained through its operations with China.

Between Oct. 31, 2019, and January 2022, Hsiang accepted a total of nearly 18,000 euros from China in exchange for information he had obtained from the Taiwanese military, according to prosecutors.

To demonstrate his loyalty to China, Chinese officials asked Hsiang to write a handwritten note pledging his loyalty to Beijing while wearing his military uniform for a photo in January 2020, according to the aforementioned outlet.

“I, Hsiang Te En, hereby pledge to support the peaceful unification across the straits. I will do my best in my current position to fulfill the glorious task of pushing for the peaceful unification of the motherland,” the note read.