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Military urged to take disciplinary action in espionage case

ROC Central News Agency

2011/02/09 22:17:26

Taipei, Feb. 9 (CNA) Lawmakers from across the political spectrum urged the Ministry of National Defense (MND) Wednesday to discipline all those found culpable in a case of an army general spying for China.

Opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang said the case of one-star general Lo Hsien-che working for China was probably just the tip of the iceberg with regard to communist penetration of Taiwan's intelligence and national security networks.

"The defense ministry should activate its self-discipline mechanism to make a clean sweep of all those found spying for China," Tsai said at a news conference held at the Legislative Yuan.

Given Lo's high position and the length of time he had been working for China, the 51-year-old "traitor" could have done some critical damage to Taiwan's military strength, Tsai said.

President Ma Ying-jeou should take remedial action by replacing Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu and Chief of the General Staff Lin Chen-yi and plugging the loopholes in the military's anti-espionage network, Tsai suggested.

According to the defense ministry, Lo was recruited by overseas Chinese agents in 2004 during his posting to Thailand from 2002-2005.

He has been detained on charges of espionage, following searches at his residence and office on Jan. 25. He is one of Taiwan's highest-ranking military officials to have been accused of spying for China in more than two decades.

At Wednesday's press conference, DPP legislator Huang Wei-che said Lo's case has once again called into question the quality and loyalty of the country's military personnel.

"Doubts have been rife in local society about the military's discipline, morale, combat ability and weapons systems," Huang said. "Lo's case has exacerbated those doubts. This is a serious problem that the government cannot afford to ignore or overlook."

George Hsieh, a ruling Kuomintang legislative whip, said the KMT caucus would not condone the military's misconduct and he called for the defense ministry to take disciplinary action on the espionage case as soon as possible. (By Sofia Wu) enditem /pc