20110608 Bill on leniency for double agents who confess approved

Bill on leniency for double agents who confess approved

AFP, TAIPEI

The legislature has passed an amendment to grant lenient treatment or even pardons to double agents who turn themselves in, following one of the nation’s worst espionage cases in decades, a lawmaker said on Monday.

Under current regulations, Taiwanese agents who spy for China or another foreign country face up to life imprisonment even if they surrender to the authorities, which is a major disincentive to those who regret their betrayal and want to make amends.

The amendment was approved by the legislature last week, a little more than three months after Taiwan’s military arrested a general on charges of spying for China.

Under the amendment, agents recruited by other countries and “the enemy” would have their sentence reduced or would be pardoned if their reporting to the authorities could prevent damage to Taiwan’s security or interests.

“The recent major espionage cases ... have underscored the shortcomings of the existing law,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), who initiated the legal revision, said in a statement.

Military prosecutors last month indicted Major General Lo Hsien-che (羅賢哲) and said they would seek a life sentence for him.

Lo, a former head of the Army’s telecommunications and electronic information department, was accused of spying and taking bribes from China starting in 2004.

Lo, who has been detained since February, is accused of falling for a honey trap set by a female Chinese agent while stationed in Thailand between 2002 and 2005, media reports have said. The 51-year-old reportedly started to collect secrets for her in 2004 in return for about US$1 million from China, but still managed to pass repeated loyalty checks and was promoted to major-general in 2008.