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General arrested, accused of spying
DAMAGE CONTROLThe military tried to downplay the impact of
alleged leaks, saying Major General Lo Hsien-che had only limited access to
highly classified information
By Rich Chang / Staff Reporter, with agencies
A general has been arrested over claims he spied for China, the Ministry of
National Defense (MND) announced yesterday, as it scrambled to limit the damage
from what it called the worst espionage case in 50 years.
Wang Ming-wo (王明我), acting director of the General Political Warfare Bureau,
told a press conference yesterday that Major General Lo Hsien-che (羅賢哲), head of
communications and electronic information at the Army Command Headquarters, was
detained on Jan. 25.
Agents from national security bureaus and military prosecutors searched Lo’s
office and room in the Army Command Headquarters and his residence and seized
confidential documents, Wang said.
Wang said Lo was allegedly recruited by Chinese agents in 2004 in the middle of
a 2002 to 2005 posting in Thailand, and could not have done much damage after
returning to Taiwan.
During his time in his most recent posting at Army Command Headquarters, Lo was
mostly given administrative responsibilities involving mainly non-sensitive
tasks, Wang said.
He was promoted to the rank of general on Jan. 1, 2008, but came under suspicion
of involvement in espionage last October, Wang said, adding that the ministry
cooperated with the national security authorities in investigating the case from
the very beginning.
His remarks were seen as a rebuttal of media reports that the military was
unaware of Lo’s alleged espionage for China until it received tipoffs from US
intelligence units.
Blasting Lo’s alleged espionage as treason, Wang said: “He [Lo] has brought
shame to the military. Servicemen are supposed to be loyal to their country.”
“Although tensions across the Taiwan Strait have eased over the past two years,
the Chinese communists have not stopped their infiltration into Taiwan,” Wang
said. “Instead, they have been stepping up their intelligence gathering, what we
call the ‘smokeless war,’ against us.”
Wang said the ministry has set up a special task force composed of officials
from the intelligence, communication, anti-espionage, army and military judicial
fields to assess any damage that might have been caused by Lo’s alleged
activities.
“Various damage control measures have been in the works, some of which are
already underway,” Wang said.
The military will also review its education and supervisory regulations and make
necessary improvements to better protect defense secrets and intelligence, he
added.
Trying to downplay the impact of the alleged intelligence leaks to China, the
military said the officer had only limited access to highly classified
information as he only had access to parts of systems rather than a more
complete overview of the network.
The ministry declined to clarify whether the 51-year-old one-star general had
access to a joint Taiwan-US military communications project called Po Sheng,
saying that the issue was still being investigated.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang--liang (蔡煌瑯) called
Lo’s arrest “a big military setback for Taiwan.”
“Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) and Chief of the General Staff
General Lin Chen-yi (林鎮夷) should immediately step down to assume full
responsibility,” he said.
“The military has to launch an investigation to root out any network of
high-ranking officials spying for China,” Tsai said.
Since classified information leaked by Lo might be comprehensive, Tsai said the
case may jeopardize Taiwan-US military cooperation projects and might also
impact Taiwan’s arms procurement program from the US.
Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said that President Ma Ying-jeou
(馬英九) was immediately made aware about the breach of security. Ma instructed the
ministry to strengthen information security measures.
Ma also asked the ministry to probe the spy case and look into the
responsibilities of related personnel, he said.
The director of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Culture and Communication
Committee, Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓), blamed the former DPP government for Lo’s alleged
activities, saying he started working for China in 2004, and was promoted in
2008, both taking place under the DPP government.
“The DPP should not blame the KMT for its poor information security measures.
The KMT will be supportive of the ministry’s investigation and its determination
to find out the truth,” he said, urging the DPP to offer an explanation.
Military analysts said the case may further delay the proposed US sale of
next-generation F-16 fighter jets and submarines.
“The case may give the United States second thoughts while evaluating the arms
deals,” said Wong Ming-hsien (翁明賢), a strategy expert at Tamkang University.
Taipei applied to the US government to buy 66 F-16s in early 2007, but observers
say Washington has held up the deal for fear of angering Beijing. Now, the US
might also fear a deal could cause military secrets to fall into Chinese hands,
Wung said.
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