A book by former Military Intelligence Bureau deputy chief Lieutenant General Wong Yen-ching (翁衍慶) describes how China infiltrated the nation’s military and society.
State-run China Central Television (CCTV) on Sept. 15 accused Taiwanese intelligence of using “honey traps” to build ties with Chinese students studying in Taiwan and obtain information on Chinese state secrets.
The Ministry of National Defense has called the allegations “baseless,” and lawmakers and academics have accused China of being the one attempting to infiltrate another nation’s society.
However, the Chinese accusations have sparked public discussion of Taiwan’s and China’s spying activities against each other.
In The Communist Party of China — Intelligence Organization and Spy, Wong writes that Chinese Ministry of State Security agents favor honey-trap methods, citing as example the case of former Republic of China Army general Lo Hsien-che (羅賢哲) and the Chinese ministry’s Taiwan Special Division director Li Peiqi (李佩琪).
Lo, who was the military attache to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office to Thailand from 2002 to 2005, was recruited by Li and other Chinese agents in 2004.
On Jan. 1, 2008, he was promoted to the rank of general, but came under suspicion of involvement in espionage in October 2010.
Lo was sentenced to life in prison in 2011 on espionage charges.
In his book, Wong offers detailed descriptions of the Chinese intelligence units tasked with spying on and infiltration of Taiwan.
The People’s Liberation Army’s “Sixth Bureau” cyberspace unit in Wuhan in Hubei Province is specifically tasked with gathering and researching all technical information and intelligence gathered on Taiwan, Wong wrote.
The unit attempts to tap into Taiwan’s telecommunications networks, preconfiguring a group of keywords that if spoken would instantly alert surveillance crews, Wong wrote.
The unit also gathers information from satellite images, aerial photographs, intercepted or tapped telephone calls and Internet data analysis, he wrote.
Select “Sixth Bureau” divisions are embedded at Wuhan University as research centers and labs, Wong said, adding that three large listening stations are positioned in China’s Fujian Province.
The bureau is part of the Chinese Central Military Commission Political Work Department’s Communications Bureau and is the primary unit gathering intelligence for political warfare against Taiwan and other military powers, Wong said.
The Shanghai office of the bureau is focused primarily on the Taiwanese military, Wong wrote.
He said that the unit keeps digital files on all Taiwanese military personnel ranked colonel or higher that include place of residence, educational background and some personal information.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
Taiwanese barista Xie Yi-chen (謝溢宸) recently triumphed at the 2024 World Coffee Championships, taking home 1st place in the World Latte Art category. Xie, 28, impressed the judges in the final round with patterns of a whale, a moose, and a dragon in the three-day competition that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark from June 27-29, clinching the title of latte art world champion during his first time representing Taiwan on the world stage. At a press conference held by the Taiwan Coffee Association on Thursday, Xie said that creating latte art gives him a tremendous feeling of achievement. Speaking about his entries in
TRAVEL CONVENIENCE: The program is to shorten wait times while passing through airport checks and would start for Taiwanese from January next year Japan is to launch a new program to expedite entry procedures for Taiwanese starting from January next year. The Japanese government is planning to introduce new rules to shorten the time it takes foreign travelers to pass through immigration, thereby attracting more tourists to visit, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported yesterday. An airport preclearance program would be implemented to allow foreign travelers to finish some screenings at their departure airport’s terminals and undergo simple confirmation procedures upon arrival, it said. The program would initially be applied to travelers from Taiwan from January next year and could be extended to travelers from elsewhere depending
The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final