At least 10 Chinese moles are believed to have penetrated Taiwan’s national security units, a retired agent told media yesterday, as Taiwan reels from its worst espionage case in half a century.
The warning came after Taiwan arrested General Lo Hsien-che (羅賢哲) last month on charges of spying for China, which despite warming relations between Taipei and Beijing and growing cross-strait interactions maintains an aggressive espionage posture.
“Some of the suspected Chinese agents have not yet been arrested as the authorities are short of solid evidence against them, even though they have been closely monitored for some time,” the retired agent told the Chinese-language China Times on condition of anonymity.
Others have been left to believe they are safe “for strategic reasons,” he said, implying that they could be used, for example by security forces feeding the agents wrong information in the hope it would be passed on to China.
He said that since Lo had escaped detection by Taiwan’s security forces for nine years before his arrest, his case might just be the tip of an iceberg.
“Many more spies for [China] might have gone undetected. The extent of the infiltration into Taiwan’s government units may be worse than imagined,” he said.
Lo was recruited by China while stationed in Thailand between 2002 and 2005 and was detained late last month.
Addressing political warfare officers and unit heads yesterday, Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) said that in the wake of the “leak crisis,” a thorough review of personnel in the ranks was necessary.
Additional reporting by staff writer and CNA
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
SUPPORT: Arms sales to NATO Plus countries such as Japan, South Korea and Israel only have to be approved by the US Congress if they exceed US$25m The US should amend a law to add Taiwan to the list of “NATO Plus” allies and streamline future arms sales, a US commission said on Tuesday in its annual report to the US Congress. The recommendation was made in the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which contained chapters on US-China economic and trade ties, security relations, and Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the chapter on Taiwan, the commission urged the US Congress to “amend the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 to include Taiwan on the list of ‘NATO Plus’ recipients,” referring to
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS