A Taiwanese general lured by a honey trap into spying for China was sentenced to life in prison by a military high court on Monday, in one of the island's worst espionage cases for half a century.

Major general Lo Hsien-che, former chief of the army telecommunications and electronic information department, was indicted in May for spying and taking bribes from China beginning in 2004.

He is one of the highest-ranking Taiwanese ever to be convicted of spying for Beijing.

"Lo five times offered information to the Chinese communist personnels in exchange for bribes," the defence ministry said in a statement, adding that Lo had confessed during the investigation and trial.

It did not specify what type of intelligence Lo gathered for Beijing or how much money he pocketed.

Local media said the documents Lo handed over to China included details of the Po Sheng (Broad Victory) command, control and communications system that Taiwan is buying from US defence contractor Lockheed Martin for US$1.6 billion.

They said Beijing is believed to be extremely interested in learning more about the project, which gives the Taiwanese military some access to US intelligence systems.

Other information leaked by Lo reportedly covered the army's procurement of 30 Boeing-made Apache AH-64D Longbow attack helicopters and the army's underground optical fibre network.

Lo is allowed to appeal, the ministry said.

He was accused of falling for a honey trap set by a female Chinese agent while stationed in Thailand between 2002 and 2005, according to Taiwanese media reports.

The Taipei-based China Times said the "tall, beautiful and chic" woman held an Australian passport and initially pretended to be working in import-export when she met Lo, who was already married.

Lo, now 51, reportedly started to collect secrets for her in 2004 and was paid about US$1 million by China, but still managed to pass repeated loyalty checks and gained promotion to major general in 2008.

A former Taiwan spy chief told local media after Lo's arrest earlier this year that he feared the island's ability to defend itself in the event of a Chinese invasion had been badly compromised by his activities.

Ting Yu-chou, former secretary general of Taiwan's National Security Council, said the island's plans for repelling invading forces needed to be entirely re-thought.

Ting said Lo was deeply involved in Taiwan's military wargames and should have been familiar with the island's countermeasures against Chinese communist forces.

A retired Taiwanese agent recently warned that at least 10 Chinese moles were believed to have infiltrated the island's security units.

Taiwan and China have spied on each other ever since they split in 1949 at the end of a civil war. Beijing still regards the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

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