Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Close the door on spies

Taipei Times Editorials

Lawmakers and a researcher on Tuesday called for military trials to be reinstated during peacetime to help deter espionage in the military after an army colonel was charged with spying for China.

Hsiang Te-en (向德恩) was charged with corruption, pledging allegiance to China and receiving payment from Chinese operatives to work as a spy.

Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the Institute of National Defense and Security Research, said that military espionage poses a serious threat to national security, and reinstating military trials during peacetime for active personnel would improve troop discipline and deter spying.

Bill seeks tighter security at army bases

Taipei Times

A draft act to overhaul military base security and ban the use of drones near their premises cleared the first reading at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) and Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said they proposed the legislation because security standards at military bases and during military drills are based on administrative orders.

Such orders are widely considered a weak legal basis and would be overruled if they are found to conflict with other laws, they said.

Impact of polls beyond local

Taipei Times Editorials

On Saturday, voters are to decide the positions of 11,023 public officials, from mayors and city councilors to borough wardens.

The campaign issues have largely reflected the local nature of the nine-in-one elections, albeit with a distorted focus and surprising emphasis on issues previously under the radar, such as plagiarism, as well as several conspicuous omissions, such as the environment and pollution — when COP27 should perhaps have placed the issues front and center — and cybersecurity, especially given the cyberattacks experienced in the wake of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit.

Colonel accused of allying with China

Taipei Times

The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday charged army Colonel Hsiang Te-en (向德恩) with corruption, accusing him of pledging allegiance to China and receiving payment from Chinese operatives to work as a spy.

Prosecutors asked a court to sentence Hsiang to 12 years in prison.

Hsiang is head of the Kaohsiung-based Army Infantry Training Command’s Operations Research and Development Division.

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