Prosecutors expand military spies probe

‘ALARMING’: Many of the officers being investigated were rising military stars, with good service records and grades in the military academy, anonymous sources said

• By Liu Yung-yun, Chiu Chun-fu and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, with staff writer

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Law enforcement officials have broadened a probe into a suspected network of Chinese spies, after the Kaohsiung branch of the High Court on Wednesday convicted two former military service members on espionage and corruption charges.

The court sentenced an ex-army sergeant surnamed Fang (方) to 10 years and four months in prison and an ex-air force sergeant surnamed Huang (黃) to seven years in prison.

The verdict may be appealed.

Recruits train at the Republic of China Military Academy in an undated photograph.

Photo courtesy of the Republic of China Military Academy

Fang and Huang were found guilty of passing military secrets to China and attempting to turn their colleagues into Chinese spies as members of Wo Long Hui (臥龍會, “Crouching Dragon Society”), an organization with links to Chinese intelligence.

Fang is also accused of filming a “surrender video” after he was recruited by the society.

The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office is investigating more than 20 persons of interest, including several serving army captains, sources with knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity.

The organization is believed to be targeting service members with financial problems, they said.

It lends small sums of money to cash-strapped officers until they are heavily indebted, then induces them to betray Taiwan as a way out of debt, the sources said.

Compromised military personnel must swear a loyalty oath before being offered money to steal intelligence and compromise their colleagues, they said.

The organization has a reward system based on the value of the secret provided, or the new assets members recruit, they added.

Investigators are tracing financial streams and identifying how Chinese intelligence found out which service members were susceptible to their tactics, the sources said.

It is not yet proven if the people under investigation had stolen secrets on China’s behalf, they said.

The officers have remarkably similar — if not shared — backgrounds, they said, adding that many were graduates of the Chung Cheng Armed Forces Preparatory School and the formal military academy system.

Chinese intelligence appeared to have contacted many of the officers early in their careers, when they still held lieutenancy, they said.

Alarmingly, many of the officers under suspicion were rising stars in the military, with excellent military academy grades and good service records, the sources said.