Taiwan officer on spy charge

Analysts say the case could damage Taiwan's navy

The authorities in Taiwan have arrested a navy sergeant on charges of passing military secrets to China.

A military prosecutor said the accused man, First Sergeant Liu Yueh-lung, was detained on board a destroyer in the north-eastern naval base of Suao last week.

Local television reports say Sergeant Liu is alleged to have sent photographs of ships, ports and weapons to China by e-mail. One report said he also passed data on floppy disks to relatives living on the mainland.

Mr Liu, 23, who served as a radio operator, could be sentenced to death if found guilty.

Tactics leaked

The Taipei Times reported that a preliminary naval investigation indicated that Sergeant Liu allegedly leaked information related to the combat tactics of a Taiwanese destroyer during a naval exercise in April and May.

A prosecutor at the southern Kaohsiung district court confirmed reports that Sergeant Liu's father had also been arrested for his alleged involvement.

Taiwan regularly conducts military exercises

Taipei and Beijing have spied on each other ever since they were split by the Chinese civil war in 1949.

In 1999, China court-martialled and executed two of its own officers, Major General Liu Liankun, 58, and Senior Colonel Shao Zhengzhong, 56, for spying for Taiwan.

According to Chinese reports, Taipei paid the pair at least US$1.6m for funnelling information to them on Chinese war games near the island from 1995-96 and the deployment of weapons against Taiwan.

The two rivals regularly conduct exercises in preparation for possible military combat.

Communist Beijing considers Taiwan a renegade province and has repeatedly threatened to attack the democratic island if it declares independence.