Former Military News Agency Lieutenant Colonel Kong Fan-chia's Attempted Espionage for China Unsuccessful, Sentenced to 5 Years and 4 Months

News from the second instance of the Taiwan High Court in June last year indicated that Kong Fan-chia, a former lieutenant colonel of the Ministry of National Defense's Military News Agency, was recruited by officials from the Xiamen Municipal People's Government of the Communist Party of China while in active service. Between November 2006 and April 2008, he received US$6,000 and US$5,700 respectively, promising to introduce active and retired military personnel to travel to mainland China or other third countries to create opportunities for the CCP to recruit, make contact, or obtain military secrets.

The High Court stated that after Kong Fan-chia retired on August 17, 2012, he received 60,000 RMB (approximately NT$280,000) from CCP officials between 2014 and 2016. In 2017, he invited an officer surnamed Wang to travel to mainland China and other third countries, but the officer declined, making the attempt unsuccessful.

The High Court said that in April and May 2019, Kong Fan-chia invited another retired military personnel surnamed Wang to travel to mainland China and accompanied him to mainland China to be hosted by CCP officials. In 2020, he intended to arrange for Wang to meet with CCP officials abroad again and receive work guidance, but it was canceled due to the epidemic. Kong Fan-chia later sent the contact information of the CCP officials to Wang, but Wang did not actively contact them, making the attempt unsuccessful.

The High Court believed that the original judgment, which found Kong Fan-chia began developing organizations during his active service and only committed the crime of corruption and bribery, and sentenced him to 5 years and 6 months, was clearly erroneous. Considering his confession and the return of illicit gains, his sentence was reduced. On June 24 last year, the original judgment was revoked, and he was re-sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in prison for violating duties and receiving bribes under the Anti-Corruption Act and for attempting to develop organizations for mainland China with intent to endanger national security under the National Security Act.

After the prosecutor appealed, the Supreme Court ruled that the second instance judgment had no errors and the sentencing was appropriate. The appeal was rejected on April 1, and the case is now final. (Edited by Wu Su-jou) 1150407