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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》Retired colonel loses appeal in corruption case
Army Colonel Hsiang Te-en, right, and retired lieutenant Shao Wei-chiang, whose faces have been digitally obscured, hold a written pledge of allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party in an undated photograph. Photo copied by Huang Chia-lin, Taipei Times
Staff writer, with CNA
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence for a retired army colonel found guilty of accepting money in return for declaring his allegiance to China.
In the verdict, which is final, the court rejected defendant Hsiang Te-en’s （向德恩） appeal, saying: “Investigations for the previous trial were complete and the sentencing was appropriate.”
Hsiang had intended to file for retirement from the military in 2018, but was approached by Shao Wei-chiang （邵維強）, a former reporter and owner of Kinmen-based Safety Travel Service Co, who persuaded him to stay on and serve as a Chinese spy in return for a fixed monthly payment of NT$40,000.
To prove his loyalty to China, Shao in January 2020 also asked Hsiang to take a photograph of himself in military uniform while holding up a handwritten note pledging his allegiance to Beijing.
The note states: “I, Hsiang Te-en, hereby pledge to support cross-strait peaceful unification. I will do my best in my current post to fulfill the glorious task of pushing for peaceful unification with the motherland.”
Hsiang was found guilty of having accepted NT$560,000 in bribes from Shao from October 2019 to January last year, a Kaohsiung District Court indictment said.
During the first trial in February, the former colonel argued that he was exercising his freedom of speech as the oath was his personal opinion on cross-strait matters.
A panel of judges rejected his claims, saying that he had broken his pledge of allegiance to defend the Republic of China （Taiwan） and that by accepting bribes, he had seriously damaged national security and undermined morale in the military.
Hsiang was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail for corruption and stripped of his political and civil rights for four years. He appealed the case, but the Kaohsiung branch of the High Court upheld the ruling in September.
Hsiang subsequently filed another appeal, but the Supreme Court on Thursday said the initial verdict was appropriate and that the verdict was final.
Hsiang was indicted for corruption in November last year. At the time, Kaohsiung prosecutors said they were still investigating what information Hsiang passed on and whether any of it was confidential. If he was found to have done so, they said he could face additional espionage charges under the National Security Act （國家安全法）.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
