A Taiwan court has convicted a former presidential aide of spying for China and three others who were also employed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
One of the men worked in the office of then Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, who now serves as the national security chief.
The court handed the men jail terms of between four to 10 years for leaking state secrets. The ruling said the espionage was carried out 'over a very long period of time' and involved sharing 'important diplomatic intelligence'.
Beijing claims democratically-governed Taiwan as its own, and the two have been spying on each other for decades. However, Taipei claims that Chinese espionage has intensified in recent years.
Of the four men sentenced, Huang Chu-jung, a former assistant to a Taipei councillor, received the longest jail time of 10 years. Prosecutors had initially sought sentences of up to 18 years.
All four were charged in June, a month after they were expelled from the DPP.
According to the court, Huang had instructed a foreign office staffer to obtain information from Wu, then the foreign minister. He then wrote reports using this information and sent it to Chinese Communist Party intelligence using encrypted software.
The foreign office staffer, Ho Jen-chieh, was sentenced to eight years and two months in jail.
Huang was also accused of working with another ex-DPP staffer, Chiu Shih-yuan, to collect more information. The court heard that Chiu sourced information from Wu Shangyu, who was an aide to Lai Ching-te, the current president.
Wu served as Lai’s aide when he was the Vice President and again for a short period after becoming president in 2024. Wu was accused of passing on details about Lai’s itineraries during his travels.
Huang received almost NT$5m ($163,172; £122,203) from the Chinese government, while Chiu was paid more than NT$2m.
'The information they spied on, collected, leaked, and delivered involved important diplomatic intelligence...which made our country's difficult diplomatic situation even worse,' the court stated.
These convictions are part of a broader crackdown on espionage activities tied to Chinese influence in Taiwan. In 2024, Taiwan's National Security Bureau indicated 64 individuals were prosecuted for spying, a stark increase compared to previous years.
Allegations of espionage extend to high-ranking Taiwanese officials, with significant convictions in recent years underscoring ongoing concerns over national security.
The espionage allegations, coupled with deteriorating relations, have fueled a divisive debate in Taiwan regarding its approach to China and national sovereignty, with rising tensions marked by frequent incursions into Taiwan's airspace by Chinese military forces.
