Taiwan informant arrested in China to get NT$7.8m
UNDERCOVER : Lo Chin-lien was recruited in 2002 as a Taiwanese spy, but in 2006, the Chinese military discovered his identity and confiscated his property
By Yang Kuo-wen and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The Taipei High Administrative Court ruled on Friday that a civilian informant working for the nation’s Military Intelligence Agency in China who was later arrested and imprisoned by Chinese authorities would receive NT$7.8 million (US$263,000) in compensation from the agency.
The ruling can still be appealed.
According to the ruling, the agency in 2002 enlisted Lo Chin-lien (羅欽鍊) as one of its civilian informants helping the agency gather intelligence on military jets, license numbers on China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force vehicles, as well as information about the shooting range in the Guangzhou Military Zone, the Zhanjiang military harbor and other military locations under the guise of investing in a factory.
However, Lo’s identity as an agency informant was later discovered by Chinese intelligence, which arrested him in June 2006, as well as confiscating all of his property.
After his release in June 2011 and his return to Taiwan, the agency gave Lo a total of more than NT$3.9 million in compensation, but Lo felt the sum did not add up to what he had lost and asked the agency to give him another NT$9.5 million — a request that the agency refused.
The Taipei High Administrative Court on Friday said that according to available data, Lo’s losses in China should total about 830,000 Renminbi (about NT$4 million) and the provisionary clause in Article 27 of the Code of Civil Procedure (民事訴訟法) is applicable.
The agency is responsible for coming up with proof of Lo’s assets, and as the agency is unable to provide such proof, the court ruled that the agency must give Lo another NT$3.9 million in compensation, the ruling said.
