Taiwan Ministry of Defense Denies That Former Chief Military Officer in U.S. Was Spy for China

Joseph Yeh

September 25, 2014

MND denies ex-head of US defense mission was spying

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday refuted a local media report that accused a former head of Taiwan’s defense mission in the United States of spying for China.

Military spokesman Luo Shao-he (羅紹和) yesterday told The China Post that the ongoing investigation into Major General Li Hsien-sheng (黎賢聖) has found no evidence to support the claim that he was engaged in espionage on behalf of mainland China, nor has any confidential military information been found to have been leaked to the other side of the Taiwan Strait, he said.

Luo’s comment came in response to a Chinese-language Apple Daily report yesterday that claimed the investigation into Li had found that he passed confidential information to China through his close connection to a female Chinese spy.

Quoting an unidentified military source, the newspaper said Li failed to pass five polygraph tests earlier this year. He failed to pass the tests after being asked about the keywords “woman” and “China,” the report said.

Further investigations show that Li had an intimate relationship with a 30-something-year-old Chinese spy during his previous post in Washington, the report said.

Commenting on the report, Luo said it is “pure speculation and deviates from the truth.”

The MND previously confirmed that Li had failed to pass required polygraph tests. He had already been called back to Taiwan, but the MND stressed that the homecoming was part of a regular personnel reshuffle and had nothing to do with the failed tests. It is still trying to determine the reasons behind Li’s failure to pass the tests, the MND said.

Different physical or physiological conditions can affect the results of polygraph tests, the MND added.

Meanwhile, the National Security Bureau (NSB, 國安局) head yesterday would not comment on Li’s case.

NSB Director-General Lee Shying-jow (李翔宙) said the bureau would not speculate on the ongoing investigation into Li and on whether the married general’s alleged involvement in spying for China was due to his alleged affair with a female Chinese spy.

But he stressed that the case did not cause national security concerns as the bureau and other related government units have done their best to beef up security measures, he told reporters during a Legislative session.

Li’s Comments

Li yesterday told the Chinese-language United Evening News that he did not engage in espionage activities for Beijing or have an extramarital affair with a female Chinese spy as reported in the Apple Daily.

Li said the investigation is still ongoing and he threatened to file a libel suit against the Apple Daily for the “ungrounded report” to defend his integrity, the report said.