Military Investigates Missing Laptop from Taiwanese Guided-Missile Ship

The Taiwanese military has launched an ongoing investigation into how a government laptop came up missing from a guided-missile warship that was docked at the southern port of Tsoying, Taiwan's largest naval base.

Defense officials state that the computer has been missing for two weeks now. The ship, Kuang Hua No. 6, is part of a fleet that Taiwan built in the last decade to defend against Chinese warships. Reports claim that the laptop belonged to a private contractor and was being used for testing confidential communication equipment and procedures.

Taiwan’s biggest fear is that the laptop may have been taken by Chinese spies, in an effort to challenge Taiwan’s defense. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the computer apparently did not contain any imperative information or military secrets; it does, however, alert military to security weaknesses.

The case has now been handed over to the military prosecutors.

Taiwan and China have conducted surveillance against each other since they divided from civil war in 1949. China still claims the island as a part of its territory.