Francis Tuschek
The High Administrative Court has dismissed an appeal from a former naval chief petty officer who was fired for not reporting an attempt to recruit him for a Chinese espionage operation, labeling his unit’s decision as “reasonable.”
In 2022, the officer, identified by the surname Tseng, stationed at the Zuoying naval base in Kaohsiung, was approached to join a Chinese spy network, according to the Kaohsiung branch of the court. Although he declined the proposal, he failed to report the incident, which was a legal requirement.
The recruiter was a retired air force colonel, Liu Sheng-shu, who has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for establishing a spy network for China in exchange for NT$16.7 million (approximately US$510,985).
The judge noted that Tseng’s role in ship maintenance put him at significant risk of leaking military secrets. His failure to disclose his interactions with Liu led his unit to conclude that he lacked vigilance and posed a national security threat, resulting in a major demerit and his designation as unfit for service.
The court stated that Tseng’s unit applied rigorous evaluation standards in his case, reaffirming the soundness of their decision and rejecting his appeal.
Investigators found that Liu requested sensitive information from Tseng after lending him NT$20,000, and also pressured him to install a GPS device on a warship and film a video expressing loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party.
Liu, who joined a Taiwanese company in China after retiring from the military in 2013, was recruited by Chinese intelligence to gather files on personnel in the Taiwanese military and government sectors. In June of the previous year, the Supreme Court upheld Liu’s 20-year prison sentence for running a spy network, which also implicated six military officers in espionage activities for China. This sentence is among the harshest penalties in recent years for military personnel convicted of espionage.
