A former official in Taiwan's presidential office has been sentenced to three years in prison Thursday for leaking state secrets to China, a report said.
Wang Ren-bing was convicted by the Taipei district court of passing confidential information on the May 2008 inauguration of President Ma Ying-jeou to Chinese intelligence, said the state Central News Agency.
It was unclear exactly what information about Ma's inauguration he had passed on, and how it could have been beneficial to China.
Wang reportedly joined the presidential staff in 2001 under Ma's predecessor, Chen Shui-bian, as tensions between Taipei and Beijing were rising due to Chen's stance seeking the island's formal independence from China.
The island's opposition has warned that Wang's case highlighted a lingering Chinese threat to the island despite improving ties in the two and a half years since the Beijing-friendly Ma took power.
Taiwan and China have spied on each other ever since they split in 1949 at the end of a civil war. Beijing still claims the island as its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
A court spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
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