TAIPEI – Prosecutors in Taiwan have indicted two former officials, one of whom worked closely with the president, for leaking national security information to China, as Taipei pushes back against Beijing’s growing efforts to undermine the self-ruled democracy.

Prosecutors in the capital brought charges against a former political aide working in President Lai Ching-te’s office and a secretary who previously worked for former foreign minister Joseph Wu, according to a statement from the Taipei District Prosecutors Office on June 10.

Both are Taiwan nationals. Under the Classified National Security Information Protection Act, prosecutors are seeking prison sentences of at least five and nine years respectively.

The suspects were recruited by two people previously working for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which advocates for Taiwan’s recognition as a sovereign country separate from China.

The recruiters had allegedly collected national security information for China in exchange for rewards amounting to NT$6 million (S$257,760) and NT$2.2 million each, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors are seeking jail terms of more than 18½ years for one of the former DPP officials, and eight years for the other. One of the suspects is also under investigation for building an espionage network in Taiwan.

Beijing has in recent years steadily increased its military and political pressure on Taiwan, which China sees as part of its territory to be brought under its control, by force if necessary.

The number of Chinese fighter jets crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait – an unofficial boundary separating the two sides – has more than doubled from the same period a year before, according to the Defence Ministry in Taipei.

China has also carried out at least seven sets of military drills around Taiwan since Mr Lai took office in May 2024, a pace not seen in previous years. BLOOMBERG

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