A court in Taiwan has sentenced four soldiers, including three who worked in the president’s security team, to jail for up to seven years on charges of spying for China. The men were convicted of violating the national security law by passing “internal military information” to Chinese intelligence agents between 2022 and 2024. Three of the convicted were members of a military unit in charge of security for the Presidential Office, and the fourth was a soldier in the defense ministry’s information and telecommunications command. The four received payments ranging from NT$260,000 to NT$660,000 in return for photographing information with their mobile phones. The court stated that their acts betrayed the country and endangered national security. The number of people prosecuted in Taiwan for allegedly spying for China has increased sharply in recent years as the military and civilian investigative bodies crack down on infiltration and espionage. Many of those prosecuted have been current or retired members of Taiwan’s military, recruited by Beijing or its agents in Taiwan. Beijing has vowed to annex Taiwan, which it claims as Chinese territory, and has not ruled out using force to do so. Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, has designated China as a “foreign hostile power” and announced new measures to counter its efforts, including plans to reinstate military courts to hear cases of espionage and other offenses involving military personnel. The relatively small payments disclosed in some cases have drawn attention to the conditions and benefits offered to Taiwan’s serving military. Both sides of the Taiwan Strait have been spying on each other for decades, but analysts have warned that espionage is a bigger problem for Taiwan, which faces the existential threat of a Chinese invasion.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/27/taiwan-jails-four-soldiers-including-three-who-worked-in-presidential-office-for-spying-for-china