A new report from RW News claims that a Chinese espionage ring in Taiwan's military included active-duty members of the military police and the presidential guard. It alleges that some of the accused made so-called surrender videos, saying they would not fight if China invaded.
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00:00Details of an alleged Chinese espionage ring in Taiwan have emerged in an exclusive report
00:06from Taiwan's RW News. It lays out infiltration from within the military police to those guarding
00:13Taiwan's president himself. For more on this story, we go live now to our reporter standing
00:19by outside the military police command headquarters here in Taipei, Chris Gordon.
00:23Chris, what can you tell us about who was involved in these cases?
00:30Well, as you said, Leslie, I'm here outside military police command. Now, the military
00:35police are responsible for protecting military bases around the country, as well as the presidential
00:41office and the capital city. But the focus here today is on alleged security breaches within
00:47their own ranks and others. Now, back in February, Taiwan's high court sentenced 10 people, including
00:53active military personnel, for violating crimes by spying for China. Now, according to this
00:59new report, those people include three members of the Shilin Military Police Unit, a unit that
01:05was recently praised for cracking other espionage cases, three sailors from important missile
01:10boat squadrons, and, Leslie, even a member of the unit that protects Taiwan's president.
01:16So what are they reported to have done that's got people so up in arms?
01:22Well, the list is long, but it includes allegedly passing documents and other information to China
01:32for money, including taking photographs of classified information inside the presidential office building.
01:38But I think what might draw attention this time is the alleged surrender videos that the report claims
01:46some of these soldiers made. Now, to be clear, we have not seen any of these videos, but the report alleges
01:52that they included active duty military personnel in their uniforms, in military facilities,
01:58waving China's national flag, saying on camera that they oppose Taiwan independence,
02:04and that they would surrender if there were ever a Chinese invasion. Now, we reached out to the
02:09defense ministry for a comment on this, and they sent us a short statement which did not confirm or
02:15deny any of the specific allegations, but it did acknowledge that the cases are ongoing. And it said that they
02:21are investigating the cases, that the people involved have been either dismissed or disciplined, that they
02:27have taken measures to prevent leaks and protect military assets, and that they are taking countermeasures
02:32to make sure cases like this don't happen again. Now, the case comes as Taiwan is facing an ever-increasing
02:39number of prosecutions for espionage for China. In fact, last year, 2024, we saw the most cases ever,
02:46with 64 cases being prosecuted, which is more than 30 percent over the previous year. So I think that this
02:52all shows the pervasiveness of Chinese espionage efforts and the difficult work that the defense
02:59ministry has cut out for it. Leslie?
03:03That's a concerning trend indeed. Thanks, Chris. That was Chris Gorin reporting live from outside
03:09military police command.
03:15Thank you, Chris.
03:31You