Taiwan officer gets 12 life terms for spying for China
Lieutenant Colonel Yuan Hsiao-feng was convicted of passing unspecified military secrets to China between 2001 and 2007, said a High Court official on Wednesday.
A former Taiwanese air force officer has been given 12 life sentences for spying for China, a court said on Wednesday, adding to a lengthy list of espionage cases that have rocked the island.
Lieutenant Colonel Yuan Hsiao-feng was convicted of passing unspecified military secrets to China between 2001 and 2007, said a High Court official.
He handed the secrets to China via retired colleague Chen Wen-jen. Both men were sentenced on Tuesday, with Chen receiving a 20-year jail term, the official said.
Yuan was found guilty on 12 counts of leaking secrets, each of which carries a mandatory life term, the official said.
The duo, who can appeal the ruling, have been detained since last year when they failed to recruit two junior colleagues, who turned them in to the authorities instead.
The Taipei-based China Times said Yuan was paid NT$7.8 million (US$269,000) by China for the secrets he collected. The court declined to comment on the figure.