The defense ministry is saying that a prominent satellite expert who defected to China was not involved in sensitive research. That’s amidst rumors that former National Central University Professor Chen Kun-shan may bring state secrets to China.
The defense ministry said on Friday that Chen was involved with research projects that did not involve key technological development or sensitive issues.
He was Taiwan’s first satellite telemetry expert and the director of the university’s Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research since 2001. The university suspended Chen in November 2013, two months after he went absent without leave.
Chinese media reports in March said that Chen had been hired to work at China's State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science under Beijing's "Thousands Talents Program," which seeks to hire overseas scientists.
The education minister said he regrets to hear of Chen’s choice to work for China. An education ministry official said they are working with security officials to see if this will constitute any threat to national security.
Opposition Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Tsai Huang-liang said that his actions are a serious threat to national security and Chen should be put on the wanted list. Ruling Kuomintang lawmaker Lin Yu-fang said that researchers usually are not involved in national security issues. Other cases like this have happened before and the threat is not as serious as many imagine it to be.