Taiwan-born officer in US Navy admits revealing defence secrets
Edward Lin tells court martial he mishandled classified information in an attempt to impress women, but more serious espionage charge is dropped
The US Navy abandoned efforts to convict a Taiwan-born officer of spying for mainland China or Taiwan, striking a plea deal on Thursday on a lesser charge that portrays him as arrogant and willing to reveal military secrets to impress women.
The agreement was a marked retreat from last year’s accusations that Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin gave or attempted to give classified information to representatives of a foreign government.
But it still appears to end the impressive military career of a man who came to the United States at 14. Lin joined the staff of an assistant secretary of the Navy in Washington and was later assigned to a unit in Hawaii that flies spy planes.
Lin, 40, now faces dismissal from the Navy and up to 36 years in prison at his sentencing, scheduled for early June.
During the day-long court martial in Norfolk, Virginia, Lin admitted he failed to disclose friendships with people in Taiwan’s military and connected to its government. He also conceded that he shared defence information with women he said he was trying to impress.
One of them was Janice Chen, an American registered in the US as a foreign agent of Taiwan’s government, specifically the country’s governing Democratic Progressive Party.