Ten Taiwanese people, including former and active military personnel, were indicted on Tuesday on suspicion of spying for Beijing, Taiwanese prosecutors said.
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has increased military and political pressure on the island in recent years.
The two sides have spied on each other for decades, but analysts say the threat to Taiwan is greater given that China has threatened to use force to bring Taipei under its control.
Nine of the defendants – former and active military personnel – were charged with “filming videos pledging allegiance to the CCP” (Chinese Communist Party) and “collecting and handing over classified military information” in exchange for money, the Ciaotou District Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
They were all serving in the army, navy, air force and coast guard when a “hostile foreign group” – described to AFP as linked to the CCP – approached them on social media and allegedly bribed them.
Prosecutors said the bribes – paid in bank transfers and cryptocurrency – ranged between NT$72,000 (US$2,000) and NT$1.7 million (US$53,500).
See also: Taiwan’s existential battle against Chinese spies
A civilian defendant was accused of offering a “hostile foreign group” the use of his bank account to bribe military personnel in exchange for monthly payments.
It will be Taiwan’s first national security case to be tried by citizen judges, following a law passed three years ago to bring the public into judicial decision-making.
By providing classified information about “hostile foreign forces,” former and current military personnel “seriously jeopardized national security,” prosecutors said.
Prosecutors are seeking heavier sentences than usual as a “warning and deterrent” in the face of “increasingly serious” infiltration by foreign forces.
Espionage convictions in Taiwan can lead to sentences of 10 years or more.
The number of people prosecuted for spying for Beijing has risen sharply in recent years, with retired and serving members of Taiwan’s military prime targets of Chinese infiltration efforts, official figures show.
