Why China offered a Taiwan army pilot $15 million and ticket to Thailand?

China is trying to get to Taiwan any which way possible: now, they have allegedly tried to bribe a Taiwan army pilot to steal a US-made Chinook heavy-lift helicopter, but the accused Colonel has been arrested. The deal was worth $15 million. As per reports, the lieutenant colonel surnamed Hsieh, was approached by Chinese officers who asked him to fly a CH-47F Chinook helicopter to a Chinese aircraft carrier in the Taiwan Strait. They offered Hsieh to evacuate his family to Thailand in the event of a cross-strait conflict. Initially, Hsieh declined the offer, but accepted when he was offered half the cost of the helicopter, a whooping $15 million. The defection to China was uncovered by investigators in April and Hsieh and others involved were arrested subsequently. Earlier this year, the High Prosecutors’ Office announced it was investigating a lieutenant colonel surnamed Hsieh of the 601st Aviation Brigade and a businessman also surnamed Hsieh for allegedly leaking defense secrets to Chinese spies. Meanwhile, a report in a Chinese magazine, CT WANT, said Hsieh was recruited by a Chinese spy group headed by retaired military officer Chen Yu-hsin, bought air tickets for him and invited him to Bangkok, Thailand. Upon reaching Thailand, Hsieh reportedly met a man surnamed Wang, who claimed to be a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) senior general, and a man surnamed Wu, who claimed to be a Guangzhou Military Region commander. Chen, Wang, and Wu allegedly promised Hseih that they would help his wife and children obtain Thai Elite Visas and also claimed that once war broke out in the Taiwan Strait, he and his family would be given priority to evacuate Taiwan as Thai overseas Chinese and would be given a monthly salary of about 200,000 Chinese yuan. He was also allegedly instructed that when PLA’s Air Force (PLAAF) military aircraft conducting exercises neared Taiwan’s contiguous zone, he was to fly a Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter at low altitude along the coastline. It was estimated that it would only take him about five minutes to land on a PLAN vessel. The plan did not fructify as the law enforcement officials received intelligence in advance and arrested Hsieh and collaborators. Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng told reporters that Beijing’s attempts to lure Taiwanese has had a “considerable impact.” The minister also said the military has bolstered its response measures against various espionage methods employed by China. With inputs from agencies