TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taipei District Court on Thursday found a former adviser to the foreign minister and a former Democratic Progressive Party aide guilty of passing secrets to China.
Huang Chu-jung (黃取榮), a former aide to a New Taipei City councilor, was sentenced to 10 years, while Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑), a former adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, received eight years and two months, per CNA. Appeals against the sentences are still possible.
Huang, Ho, and two other defendants were expelled from the DPP after the case became public earlier this year. In 2023, Ho passed three sets of confidential information he had collected, overheard, or seen during his work for then-Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) to Huang. Huang mixed the secrets with public information and used encryption software to send it to a Chinese intelligence agent.
Huang and Ho denied the allegations, but the court ruled that the evidence presented at trial showed they were guilty. The information they supplied to China included the schedules and movements of the foreign minister and could be used by Beijing to further propaganda aims, the judge ruled.
Huang faced confiscation of NT$4.97 million (US$163,000) he received from China for his work and was fined NT$1 million. In a separate case, Huang asked a suspect named as Chiu Shih-yuan (邱世元) to obtain information about the vice president.
Chiu relied on a friend working as an adviser at the vice president’s office, Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨), to provide him with five documents about the vice president’s domestic campaign itinerary and plans for foreign trips. Chiu and Wu admitted their actions during questioning, the court said.
Chiu was sentenced to six years and two months in prison, fined NT$50,000, and ordered to forfeit NT$2.21 million in illegal income. The district court gave Wu a four-year jail term.
