Taiwan jails 8 soldiers for spying

TAIPEI, Aug 22 (AFP): Eight Taiwanese military servicemen were sentenced on Thursday to up to 13 years in prison for spying for Beijing, with the court saying they did it for the money.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has ramped up military and political pressures on the democratic island in recent years.

The two sides split in 1949 after a civil war and have been spying on each other since.

The defendants in Thursday's sentencing were active-duty soldiers "willing to collect intelligence for China that caused the leak of important secrets," a Taiwan High Court statement said. "They were seduced by money."

Among them was a man surnamed Hsiao, who was the key to recruiting soldiers to join "a network for China" to gather and hand over information, the court said.

He received the heaviest jail term: 13 years.