Taiwan prosecutors announced Thursday that they have filed an indictment against a retired Navy sergeant surnamed Ma, accusing him of trying, twice, to recruit active-duty officers into stealing classified national security material on behalf of Chinese intelligence handlers. Both attempts reportedly collapsed after the men Ma approached refused to go along, but investigators say the case still exposes a sustained, cash-driven effort to reach inside Taiwan's military and coast guard.
A Search Turns Up Cash And A Hidden Ledger
The investigation was led by the New Taipei City Military Police Corps together with the southern investigation division of Taiwan's Agency Against Corruption. Searches of Ma's person and residences turned up a phone dedicated to the operation, USB drives, roughly NT$50,000 in cash, and a membership list for a private mutual-aid savings club that prosecutors say was used to disguise the flow of bribe money. Digital forensics and witness interviews followed, and prosecutors have now filed the indictment with the Taiwan High Court's Tainan Branch, which hears national security cases as a court of first instance. Ma faces charges under the National Security Act for attempting to collect classified official documents, and under the Anti-Corruption Act for offering bribes to induce a breach of official duty.
Recruited By China Since 2008
According to the indictment, Ma is a retired Navy sergeant who began working for Chinese intelligence in 2008 after being recruited by handlers using the aliases "Li Wenxue (李文學)" and "Zhang Chengcheng (張成城)." His assignment, prosecutors say, was to build a network inside Taiwan capable of gathering intelligence on maritime affairs and coastal patrol operations.
A Retired Admiral Who Said No
In early 2021, Ma introduced a retired Navy rear admiral surnamed Wang to his Chinese contacts and paid Wang NT$42,100, prosecutors say, in an attempt to get him to hand over Ministry of National Defense operational intelligence along with details of a maritime cooperation agreement between Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council and the United States. Wang declined to take part, and the recruitment effort went nowhere.
A Coast Guard Officer Offered Up To $100,000
Undeterred, Ma tried again in 2023, this time reaching a current Coast Guard Administration section chief surnamed Yu through a junior-high-school alumni chat group on LINE. Prosecutors say Ma dangled payments of up to US$100,000, more than NT$3 million, for each piece of intelligence delivered, with the promise of a standing monthly payment if Yu kept supplying material. Ma handed over NT$50,000 up front along with a phone meant solely for passing along secrets, and pressed Yu to obtain classified records on trilateral maritime exchange programs between Taiwan, the United States and Japan. Yu refused to cooperate, and this second attempt also failed to produce any leaked material.
Why Prosecutors Call The Risk Severe
Prosecutors said the intelligence Ma sought bears directly on Taiwan's national defense and maritime security. Given the current tension across the region, they warned, a successful leak could have weakened Taiwan's maritime law enforcement, damaged trust with the United States, Japan and other partners, disrupted intelligence sharing, and undercut joint operations, with consequences reaching well beyond a single case into Taiwan's broader national security and social stability.
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