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Taiwan's High Prosecutors' Office said on Wednesday that it has indicted retired army lieutenant general Kao An-kuo and five others for allegedly creating an organization in Taiwan to assist China in the event of a military invasion, according to the Taipei Times.
The office stated that the six defendants are suspected of violating the National Security Act and have been transferred to the Taiwan High Court. The court has decided to detain them, prohibiting any outside contact. After retiring from military service, Kao An-kuo founded the pro-unification group "Republic of China Taiwan Military Government," according to a news release from the office. In 2019, Chinese intelligence personnel recruited Kao, along with a military spokesperson surnamed Hou and a woman surnamed Liu, following several exchanges. According to prosecutors, Hou and Liu are suspected of receiving financial support from the Chinese military to develop armed organizations and operational bases in Taiwan. The six defendants collectively received over 9.62 million New Taiwan dollars from China, the prosecutors said, according to the Taipei Times. Prosecutors claimed that Hou and Liu recruited former military colleagues to undermine the government, planning to support the Chinese military in the event of a Taiwan invasion. They have requested the court to impose sentences of at least 10 and eight years, respectively, on Kao and Liu, as their actions placed national security in a dangerous and unpredictable situation. Prosecutors also stated that the other defendants should face sentences ranging from three years and five months to over eight years in prison, the Taipei Times reported. In 2021, Kao posted a video of himself in military fatigues, urging Taiwanese military personnel to surrender to China and overthrow the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government. Earlier in December, Taipei prosecutors indicted four former military personnel on charges of selling state secrets to China. The four individuals, surnamed Lai, Lee, Lin, and Chen, have been detained, Taipei Times reported. According to the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office, the three suspects who were responsible for security at the Presidential Office Building served in the 211th Military Police Battalion, surnamed Lai, Lee and Lin, while Chen served in the Ministry of National Defense's Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command. "Lai served from August 2015 to November last year, Chen from December 2017 to July last year, Lee from 2018 to February, and Lin from 2021 to August. From the end of 2021 to the beginning of 2022, Lai and Chen were allegedly brought into the scheme by a man surnamed Huang, who is currently wanted, on behalf of China's intelligence agents," prosecutors said. "Starting in April 2022, Chen used his cellphone to take photographs of classified documents before passing them on to Lai and Chen, or Chinese agents," prosecutors added. Further, the prosecutors highlighted that between March or April last year and August this year, Chen, using a fake identity, recruited fellow soldiers to spy for China in exchange for rewards. (ANI)
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