Taiwanese authorities ordered the preventive detention of a journalist and five active-duty military personnel for allegedly leaking "relevant military information" to individuals in China, judicial sources reported Sunday.

The Ciaotou District Court (south) approved the incommunicado detention of all According to a statement from the Prosecutor's Office, searches were conducted on January 16 at the reporter's residence and the homes of nine other active and retired military personnel. "Following interrogations, it was determined that the journalist, identified as Lin, allegedly delivered sums of money ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of New Taiwan dollars to active-duty military personnel, who subsequently provided relevant military information to individuals in mainland China," the statement explained. The Prosecutor's Office maintains that Lin and the five detained military personnel are suspected of violating Taiwan's National Security Law, Anti-Corruption Law, and Penal Code by leaking classified information. According to the CNA news agency, the detained journalist is Lin Chen-you, a reporter for the streaming television channel CTi News, who covers political issues—primarily in the local Parliament—and also hosts a program on the outlet's YouTube channel. In a statement reported by CNA, CTi—whose editorial line is The media outlet, which supports strengthening relations between China and Taiwan, called for a “fair and equitable” trial for the journalist.

“Infiltration Maneuvers”

“We demand a fair trial and justice for all. May God bless Taiwan. Reports that CTi was registered are false. We urge all parties to stop spreading false information,” the outlet stated.

For its part, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense stated in a press release that, in response to the alleged “infiltration maneuvers” by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) within the island's armed forces, It maintains a “high level of alert” and encourages the reporting of any “illegal or anomalous activity” among its personnel.

Espionage cases have gained even more media attention in Taiwan after the island's president, William Lai, defined China last year as a “hostile external force” and announced a series of measures to contain Beijing's growing acts of “infiltration” into Taiwanese territory.

Beijing authorities consider Taiwan an “inalienable part” of Chinese territory and have not ruled out the use of force to seize control, a stance rejected by the Taipei government, which maintains that only the 23 million Taiwanese have the right to decide their political future.