10 Taiwanese soldiers charged with spying for China

TAIPEI: Ten former and current Taiwanese military officers were indicted on Monday for allegedly spying for Beijing, including two who made a video pledging to “surrender” to the Chinese military, prosecutors said.

Three of the defendants were accused of recruiting active-duty servicemen to collect military information to “develop a network for China”, the Taiwan High Prosecutors´ Office said in a statement.

Four officers they enlisted were also charged with handing over “multiple items of military secrets” to Beijing in exchange for money, it said without elaborating on the type of secrets.

Two others -- both active-duty officers -- allegedly shot a “psychological warfare” video for Beijing in which they said: “I am willing to surrender to the People´s Liberation Army”. “Active-duty soldiers pledging their allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party is an extremely vicious act,” prosecutors said.

The last defendant was accused of stealing military secrets from a safe at his workplace. “All the defendants had been or are currently servicemen... but they betrayed their country and the people just because of personal interests... to seriously jeopardise security,” prosecutors said. “We ask the court to impose a harsher sentence to serve as a warning.”