Taiwan air force major indicted for selling intelligence to China

The ROC Air Force 439th Combined Wing's E-2K early warning aircraft takes off from Kaohsiung International Airport on its way back to its base in Pingtung, Dec. 26, 2011. (Photo/Military News Agency)

A Taiwanese air force major and a karaoke club owner have been indicted for disclosing military secrets to China, prosecutors in Kaohsiung said Thursday.

Major Hao Chih-hsiung, who served at the air force base in Pingtung county, and local businessman Wan Tsung-lin are accused of selling China classified information about Taiwan's E-2K early warning aircraft.

Their contact with China was discovered last June during a separate espionage investigation and they were detained in September after prosecutors found that the two men had money in their bank accounts from an unknown source, according to the Kaohsiung branch of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office.

Hao allegedly passed on intelligence to China about the early warning aircraft, using Wan and another Taiwanese businessman as intermediaries, prosecutors said.

Wan was running a karaoke club near the air force base in Pingtung, while the other businessman, a friend of his, was based in China, prosecutors said

Hao was paid NT$300,000-400,000 (US$10,000-$13,000) for his efforts, according to prosecutors.

Source: Want China Times