Taiwan refuses to free spy general Lo Hsien-che in prisoner swap
Staff Reporter 2013-12-17 12:26
While a military attache in Thailand, Lo Hsien-che entered into a relationship with a woman via whom he passed secrets to China in return for money. (Photo/CNA)
In secret talks between intelligence agencies from China and Taiwan regarding an exchange of prisoners, Beijing requested Taipei free Lo Hsien-che, a former major general of the Republic of China Army who was sentenced to life imprisonment last year after after being convicted on espionage charges, in return for the release of two ROC agents, our sister paper China Times reported on Dec. 16.
The talks on an exchange of seized spies took place in an unnamed third country in Southeast Asia. While Taiwan requested the release of Chu Gong-hsiung and Hsu Chang-guo, two operatives from the ROC's Military Intelligence Bureau, the talks broke down when Beijing asked for the release of General Lo for exchange.
Chu Gong-hsiung and Hsu Chang-guo were arrested by agents from mainland China on an assignment to border region between China and Vietnam on May 29, 2006 and were both sentenced to life imprisonment for spying. After serving time in prison in Guangxi for some time, Chu and Hsu are now under house arrest in an unknown location. Lo was arrested by Taiwanese authorities in January 2011 for delivering classified data to agents from mainland China.
An ROC military source said Lo fell into a honey trap set by Beijing in 2004 when he was stationed as a military attache in Thailand. Since Lo is one of the highest-ranking ROC military officers to be convicted of spying for the PRC in more than two decades, Taiwan's justice minister Lo Ying-hsueh said no exchange would be accepted that included the disgraced general.
Though the political warfare bureau of the ROC defense ministry stated that Lo's post as director of the Army's information and communications bureau consisted mostly of "management duties," some military experts believe Lo had access to vital air, ground and sea battle management systems which could have severely compromised the ROC's military command system in the event of an attack by the People's Liberation Army and that the affair may have jeopardized military cooperation between Taiwan and the US.
