More May Chin’s aides implicated as Chinese espionage case broadened

Two aides at independent Legislator May Chin’s (高金素梅) office were ordered detained incommunicado yesterday in a broadening probe into alleged Chinese espionage by Chin’s former chief of staff, Chang Chun-chieh (張俊傑). The move to hold Lin I-chun (林怡君) and current chief of staff Chen Chih-huang (陳智葟) in custody came four days after Chang, indicted on corruption charges, cut off his electronic monitoring wristband and jumped bail. The High Prosecutors’ Office said that it believes Chang had developed a Chinese spy ring, which might have operated for more than a decade, with funding from China, and that Lin and Chen were suspected of being involved. Photo: CNA The High Court approved prosecutors’ application to detain Lin and Chen with communications restrictions to prevent collusion, evidence tampering and flight, it said. Investigators believe that Chang has been recruiting and organizing Chinese agents in Taiwan, and are examining the sources and destinations of funding, the office said. Prosecutors have not determined whether Chin was complicit in spying, or knew of Chang’s role in funneling illicit funds from China, it added. Chang allegedly had personal relationships with pro-unification and indigenous groups that had dealings with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) and National Ethnic Affairs Commission before becoming Chin’s chief of staff in 2002, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) reported. At Chin’s office, Chang was considered the person in charge of China affairs and a core member of the lawmaker’s inner circle, it said. Chang accompanied Chin on her many visits to China, which allowed him to opportunities to contact officials linked to the TAO and commission, it said. In 2009, Chin visited then-Chinese president Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in Beijing to raise funds for victims of Typhoon Morakot, obtaining 20 million yuan (US$2.98 million), it said. Chang was also intimately involved with Chin’s founding of the Taiwan Indigenous Peoples’ Multi-Ethnic Cultural Exchange Association, an organization that engaged in unofficial cross-strait interactions, it said. Separately, Lin and Chen have also been named codefendants in an ongoing trial over Chin’s alleged embezzlement of NT$545,917 (US$17,304) from public funds allotted for legislative aides’ salaries. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office in June indicted Chin and 23 people connected to her office on charges linked to alleged embezzlement, forgery, money laundering and illegal imports of COVID-19 rapid test kits from China. Chang and Chen were among the indicted defendants. Staffers in Chin’s office were allegedly directed to create records of non-existent aides for Chin to benefit from their payrolls, the office said in the indictment. Prosecutors also accused Chen of defrauding the national labor insurance of NT$158,040 by falsely claiming unpaid parental leave when he was still working and receiving compensation. Chen has confessed to that part of the charges, the office said. Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of more than 16 years for Chang, who was granted bail at NT$10 million before absconding. The court has issued a warrant for his arrest. Taiwan, which accounts for more than half of the global outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing market, is well-positioned to develop copackaged optics (CPO) and manufacture precision silicon photonics chips, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Silicon photonics are emerging as a mainstream optical communications technology and is seen as key to overcoming bottlenecks in AI computing power. The technology is a key project under the government’s New 10 Major AI Infrastructure Projects, with industry, government, academia and research institutions working to overcome critical technological hurdles and build a self-reliant silicon photonics supply chain, the ministry said. Nvidia Corp in March invested US$4 The air force plans to build 26 more hardened aircraft shelters as the number of F-16Vs stationed along Taiwan’s east coast is expected to reach 120 when the final shipment of 66 jets procured from the US arrives. The incoming jets would be stationed at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung County, augmenting the F-16V Block 20s operated by the 5th Tactical Fighter Wing in Hualien County, officials said yesterday. The air force plans to allocate more than NT$6.88 billion (US$218.1 million) from next year to 2031 to build the shelters in Hualien and Taitung as part of the implementation of a “one NO LIMITS: More legislation expanding Beijing’s control over the movement of people, money and information raises risks for Taiwanese travelers and businesses, officials said China is set to implement several laws in the coming months that expand the definition of national security, creating greater risks for Taiwanese traveling to or doing business in China, Taiwanese officials said yesterday. Beijing’s Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law took effect on July 1, while a draft “Internet Information Service Management Measures” finished its public consultation on Aug. 2, but has yet to be adopted. China’s Regulations of the State Council on Exit and Entry Administration are to take effect on Tuesday next week, while amendments to its National Defense Mobilization Law and the Ministry of Public Security’s Measures China’s continued efforts to inject geopolitical rivalry into the region and disrupt Pacific nations’ discussions of regional issues warrant greater international attention, a foreign affairs official said yesterday. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) last week led a delegation to diplomatic ally Palau to attend events related to the 55th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) summit. However, the absence of some member-state leaders has been interpreted by some people as a sign of fracturing in Pacific unity. Thirteen PIF members were represented by their heads of state or government, while Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Samoa sent ministerial-level representatives, a diplomatic official