ANKARA  

Taiwanese authorities have detained six current and former military personnel and one Chinese man over alleged espionage, local media reported on Wednesday.

Taiwan's High Court granted prosecutors' request to detain six retired and active Taiwanese military personnel and a Chinese man indicted for leaking military secrets to China, according to Focus Taiwan.

Prosecutors claimed that the Chinese suspect, Ding Xiaohu, allegedly recruited former Taiwanese officers to gather classified military information.

There was no immediate comment from mainland China over the latest accusations of espionage by Taipei.

According to the report, $356,444 was transferred to Taiwan to fund the group operations.

Authorities believe the espionage network began forming in 2018, with active intelligence gathering starting in 2023 before being discovered last year.

Earlier, the seven individuals were indicted by the High Prosecutors' Office on charges related to violations of the National Security Act, which carry a minimum sentence of five years in prison.

Separately, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry on Wednesday began mailing its updated civil defense handbook, “In Case of Crisis: Taiwan's National Public Safety Guide,” to around 9.83 million registered households, with distribution expected to be completed by Jan. 5.