TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Two junior officers at an Air Force radar base passed confidential information to China because they needed money to pay off debts, reports said Tuesday (Jan. 2).
A court set bail at NT$100,000 (US$3,240) and NT$200,000 for the two officers named Chen (陳) and Hu (胡), and for two civilians, a man surnamed Hsu (許) and a woman named Huang (黃). However, the Qiaotou District Prosecutors Office in Kaohsiung City did not agree and submitted appeals against the bail decision, per CNA.
Chen and Hu were unable to repay the loans to an illegal private bank. As a solution to their financial problems, they thought of selling military secrets passing through their hands at work to people with close ties to Chinese intelligence, prosecutors said.
After a period of observation, the investigators launched raids on Dec. 26. They detained the two officers and the two civilians, who were running an illegal bank.
The prosecutors said it was likely they had violated the National Security Act, while there was a possibility the four would collude and destroy evidence if they were not detained.
The court ruled there was no need to lock them up, allowing Chen, Hsu, and Huang out on bail, and releasing Hu. Chen had already confessed, while all the evidence had already been collected, the court argued.