Taiwan Supreme Court Upholds Espionage Conviction of Retired Military Officer Who Recruited for PLA Intelligence

Taiwan's Supreme Court upheld the five-year, four-month sentence of retired Lt. Col. Kung Fan-chia, who met with PLA intelligence operative Yang Libo during overseas trips between 2006 and 2008 while serving with the Ministry of National Defense's Military News Agency. Kung agreed to help develop a spy network among active and retired military personnel and continued recruitment attempts after retiring in 2012. His handler, Shao Wei-chiang, died in 2025 while serving a 12.5-year sentence. Both recruitment attempts failed: one active-duty officer declined, another retired serviceman did not follow through.