A journalist in Taiwan has been detained on suspicion of bribing military officers to provide information to people from mainland China, as the island intensifies efforts to counter alleged infiltration.
Taiwan's Qiaotou District Prosecutor's Office said in a statement that a court had ordered the detention of a television reporter surnamed Lin, along with five current and retired military officers. CTi TV later identified the reporter as Lin Chen-you.
The broadcaster said it was unaware of the details of the case but called for a fair judicial process, adding: "God bless Taiwan." While Taiwan regularly investigates espionage within its government and armed forces, cases involving journalists are rare.
Prosecutors allege that Lin paid amounts ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of Taiwan dollars (tens to hundreds of US dollars) to serving officers in exchange for supplying information to "Chinese individuals". The statement did not specify who those individuals were or whether they had links to the Chinese government.
Authorities raided the reporter's premises and those of nine current and former military personnel on Friday as part of an inquiry into violations of national security and corruption laws. According to Lin's Facebook page, he was a political reporter covering the island's legislature.
