Taiwan's High Court has overturned a previous not-guilty verdict and charged former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou. Ma plans to appeal his sentence but can also avoid prison by paying a fine of €3,370.
Image: Reuters/E. Munoz
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Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou was sentenced to four months in prison on Tuesday for leaking classified information.
Taiwan's High Court found that "Ma Ying-jeou violated the Communication and Surveillance Act," when he leaked information relating to national security and opposition lawmaker Ker Chien-ming, which should have been confidential.
Ma told local media he planned to appeal the High Court sentence, but he could also skip prison if he pays a fine of T$120,000 ($4,020, €3,370), the court said.
A former stalwart of major opposition party Kuomintang of China, Ma was Taiwan's president from 2008 to 2016 and encouraged closer ties with China. He also served as the justice minister and mayor of Taipei.
China & Taiwan's 70 year cold war
In the first summit between the two countries in six decades, China and Taiwan's top leaders held talks in Singapore on Saturday. Taiwan broke away from China following the 1945-9 Chinese civil war.
Image: AFP/Getty Images/R. Beck
Animosity has lasted nearly seven decades
China and Taiwan split in 1949 following the rise of Communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong. China's nationalist President Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan - which was then a backwater island.
In 1949, Chiang Kai-shek established a "provisional" Republic of China capital in Taipei. Post-war economic conditions caused severe inflation which left the island's tiny population impoverished for many years.
Image: Getty Images/T. Lions
Taiwan prospers without the motherland
Over the past six decades, Taiwan has experienced rapid industrialization and economic growth, becoming known as one of the "Four Asian Tigers."
Image: AP
Rise of China
In the past 30 years, China has brushed off Communism in all but name, rising to become the world's second largest economy by nominal GDP. China insists Taiwan is part of its territory. But Taiwan maintains it is a sovereign state and a democracy.
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US arms sales
In 2011, Taiwan upgraded its F-16 fighter fleet at a cost of $.5.3 billion (4.9 billion euros). China denounced the sale of arms from the US, warning at the time that it would damage Sino-American military and security ties.
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South China Sea diputes
Taiwan and China are currently locked in territorial disputes over the South China Sea. China's claims over most of area, along with its massive land reclamation projects in the Spratly islands, have annoyed much of the rest of Asia.
Image: Reuters/U.S. Navy
'We are one family'
Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed the relations between Beijing and Taipei, saying that "we are brothers...still connected by our flesh even if our bones are broken." In response, Ma called on China to respect Taiwan's democracy.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/R. Rahman
Protesters not convinced by China's overtures
In the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, about 500 people took to the streets to protest against the meeting between the two leaders. Many are skeptical as to whether ties with China will allow the territory's democracy to be maintained.
Image: Reuters/P. Chuang
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Not-guilty verdict overturned
The Tuesday ruling overturned a not-guilty verdict handed to Ma last year by the Taipei District Court.
In August 2017, the Taipei District Court ruled in Ma's favor, arguing that as president, he had had the power to intervene in disputes between different branches of government, but the High Court disagreed.
High Court spokeswoman Wu Wei-ya told a news conference that Ma should have been aware that he was obligated to respect the confidentiality of the information.
The case relates to a high-profile leak from an investigation into senior Democratic Progressive Party opposition lawmaker Ker Chien-ming in 2013.
That year in August, then-Prosecutor General Huang Shih-ming showed Ma a transcript of wiretapped conversations from an investigation into Ker.
Days after, Ma allegedly encouraged Huang to leak the contents of the recording, Ker's personal details and other information to Premier Jiang Yi-huah.
