Taiwanese authorities arrested news anchor Lin Chen-you in January 2026 on charges of bribing soldiers for access to classified information and for propaganda purposes.
Lin covered political stories, primarily about Taiwan’s Legislature for CTi News, and hosted a political program on the outlet’s YouTube channel.
According to reporting by ThinkChina.sg, prosecutors in the Ciaotou district initially began investigating a Taiwanese Marine Corps sergeant named Chen who filmed a surrender video while holding China’s five-star national flag. While reviewing his finances they discovered unusual transactions between Chen and Lin’s account, and those of several active and retired officers and non-commissioned officers.
According to FocusTaiwan, since 2023 Lin has received payments estimated at NT$169,493 (US$5,390) in cryptocurrency through Binance and OKX to conceal the source of the proceeds. He used five different bank accounts to transfer funds to the service members he collaborated with.
Between June and August 2025, Lin also produced videos on CTi, YouTube and elsewhere opposing the recall bids against Kuomintang lawmakers, on the instructions of his foreign handlers. Lin then sent screenshots of the video’s viewership to the handler, who had provided him with story ideas and pre-approved scripts. Lin received 4,325 Tether stablecoins worth about NT$130,000 as rewards.
So far, seven current or former Taiwanese service members have been indicted alongside Lin. At least one of them sent military operational plans and other classified information via Telegram to a group called PPRIT, believed to be affiliated with Chinese intelligence.
Lin faces a sentence of up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
