Taiwan has charged a retired navy sergeant with working as a Chinese spy who tried to buy secrets from a coast guard official — bad news for Taiwan's security, though both targets refused the money.

• A former navy sergeant was recruited by Chinese handlers back in 2008 and spent years trying to build a spy network inside Taiwan.
• His newest recruiting tool was a middle school alumni chat group, which he used to reach a serving coast guard section chief.
• He offered up to $100,000 per secret plus a monthly salary matching the man's pay, and handed over cash and a burner phone up front.
• The targets were Taiwan's maritime cooperation plans with the US and Japan, plus defense ministry intelligence — the official refused and the operation was exposed.
• An earlier attempt in 2021 on a retired rear admiral also failed, though cash had already changed hands.

Outlook: Prosecutors are pursuing national security and bribery charges, and cases like this are likely to keep surfacing as Beijing leans on personal networks to reach Taiwanese officials.