Taiwan Indicts Four Suspected Spies for China in Case Reaching Presidential Office

The Taipei 101 building stands among residential and commercial buildings in Taipei on June 10, 2025. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)
The Taipei 101 building stands among residential and commercial buildings in Taipei on June 10, 2025. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)
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Taiwan Indicts Four Suspected Spies for China in Case Reaching Presidential Office

The Taipei 101 building stands among residential and commercial buildings in Taipei on June 10, 2025. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)
The Taipei 101 building stands among residential and commercial buildings in Taipei on June 10, 2025. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)

Taipei prosecutors indicted four people on Tuesday suspected of spying for China in a case that reached Taiwan's presidential office, seeking jail terms of more than 18 years.

Democratically-governed Taiwan says it has faced heightened military and political pressure over the past five years or so from Beijing, which views the island as sovereign Chinese territory, a position Taipei's government rejects.

In a statement, Taipei prosecutors said the four, all previously members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, had been indicted on espionage and other charges.

One of them was a former assistant to then foreign minister Joseph Wu, now head of the National Security Council, while another was a former presidential office adviser, sources familiar with the matter have previously told Reuters.

The Taipei prosecutors said in a statement that their suspected crimes included divulging or delivering classified national security information to China.

Jail sentences of 18 years or more are being sought, the statement added.

Reuters was not able to immediately locate contact details for legal representatives of any of those indicted.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.

Last week, Taiwan's presidential office said it could not comment on the cases given the ongoing legal proceedings.

But it said that any person, regardless of party affiliation, who has "betrayed the country, collaborated with hostile external forces and committed crimes that hurt the whole nation" should be subject to the most severe punishment.



Israel Tells Worried Members of Iran’s Security Services to Contact Mossad

 Huge smoke rises up from an oil facility facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike Saturday, in southern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)
Huge smoke rises up from an oil facility facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike Saturday, in southern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Tells Worried Members of Iran’s Security Services to Contact Mossad

 Huge smoke rises up from an oil facility facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike Saturday, in southern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)
Huge smoke rises up from an oil facility facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike Saturday, in southern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)

The Israeli military is urging members of the Iranian security services to contact Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, claiming they had been receiving messages from officials worried about Iran’s “uncertain future.”

There was no immediate way to independently verify the claim.

In a post on the social platform X in Farsi, the Israeli military provided a website and urged users to employ a virtual private network before attempting contact.

“Even those who identify themselves as members of the regime’s security institutions express their fear, despair, and anger at what is happening in Iran and ask us to contact Israeli authorities - so that Iran does not suffer the same fate as Lebanon and Gaza,” the message added.

The message did not elaborate. However, it comes as Iran is in a frenzy over spies, prompting warnings to officials to abandon certain devices, apps and web services.

The internet was down in Iran late Wednesday afternoon. Authorities offered no immediate explanation.