Between 2013 and 2021, retired Taiwan Air Force Colonel Liu Shengshu (劉聖恕) recruited individuals working for, or retired from, Taiwan’s military to conduct espionage on behalf of the PRC. Liu carried out espionage activities for more than eight years and received a total of NT16.7m - $514k)
In 2013, retired Colonel Liu worked for a Taiwanese firm in China. While living in the PRC, China’s intelligence service (Probably MSS) approached and recruited him to spy on Taiwan’s military. At the direction of China’s intelligence services, Liu established a shell company to disguise payments from the Chinese Intelligence Service.[1]
Liu returned to Taiwan. By 2021, he recruited a total of five active-duty Taiwanese Air Force and Navy officers and one civilian to conduct espionage. In one instance, Liu discovered the gambling debts of retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Sun Wei (a former air force security cadre) from casino visits and electronic arcades. He targeted Sun for recruitment through the promise of thousands of yuan. Sun Wei collected information from former colleagues and illegally brought a mobile phone to film military equipment in the name of visiting to give gifts to the commander of Songshan Command in January 2021.
Sun Wei brought his wife, active duty Air Force Major Liu Yunya into the conspiracy. The married couple used their military connections to collect information on airplanes and warships.[2] Major Liu was the security supervisor at the 2022 Hanguang Exercise Security Control Center. She passed documents about the exercise. Liu also used her position to collect confidential training information. She took photocopies of confidential documents from other units with her cellphone. She also filmed and/or audio recorded classified training at Taiwan’s National Defense University. Major Liu was responsible for targeting two other majors who were recruited. Major Gong Jianyu (Who delivered one document) and Major Deng Zhiyou.
Tradecraft
1. Retired Colonel Liu recruited in China.[3]
Liu established a shell company in Taiwan to receive pay and to pay sub sources.
Electronic transfer of payments from PRC through company to Colonel Liu and sources.
Colonel Liu identified recruitment target Lieutenant Colonel Sun Wei through gambling debts.
Use of cellphones to capture video and audio in secure spaces.
Sun Wel used cover for status of visiting friends on Songshan Command military base.
Liu Yunya used cover for status of attending military lectures and training at Taiwan National Defense University.
Oversight boards have strongly criticized the many failures this case demonstrated in the execution of Taiwan’s military security protocols.
[1]Liu’s friend (Lin) set up the shell company in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Lin was sentenced to 6 months in prison.
[2] Sun Wei was discharged from the Taiwan Air Force in 2019 due to gambling debts.
[3] Some online reporting states that Liu was recruited (or at least targeted/developed) through his father-in-law early in his career while attending in Taiwan’s Air Force academy. He was activated after retirement. That reporting connects him to the Ministry of State Security.
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