Former MIB spy sentenced for leak; Bergersen out

Former MIB deputy dep't head Pang Ta-wei

While Pang Ta-wei got into trouble for the second time, a former Pentagon analyst jailed in the US for providing secrets to China has been released 

The Taiwan High Court yesterday sentenced a retired military intelligence officer to three years and six months for violations of the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法).

The court ruled that Pang Ta-wei (龐大為), a former deputy department head at the Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB), had already been convicted for leaking national secrets in 2007 in a book, which reportedly included information about his unit’s espionage activities in China from the early to mid-1990s. Pang had been sentenced to 18 months in prison for leaking classified information pertaining to national security.

In 2009, Pang completed his memoir, titled Intelligence Journal, which was allegedly based on notes he had taken while serving at the bureau, as well as other related documents. After the book, written under a pen name, was put on sale in January 2010 through a publishing house in Hong Kong, Pang was once again accused of leaking national intelligence. 

In its ruling yesterday, the court said it had taken Pang’s health — he is undergoing treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia — into consideration in sentencing him.

My article, published today in the Taipei Times, continues here.