All intelligence officials will be subjected to polygraph tests in future in a bid to root out spies, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced yesterday.
Legislators said they support the ministry's policy, but that they hoped the ministry would take human rights into consideration when implementing the tests.
"Officials of the Military Intelligence Bureau, the military's electronic information department, the ministry's security unit and the National Security Bureau will randomly undergo psychological and polygraph tests on a regular basis," Deputy Minister of National Defense Michael Tsai (
In the most recent case of espionage, Major Chuang Poh-hsing (
"I would like to apologize for the espionage on behalf of the ministry," Tsai said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Shuai Hua-min (
Shuai said the ministry should pay more attention to intelligence officials who are soon to retire, as experience has shown that these officials are more likely to sell secrets to China.
People First Party (PFP) Legislator Nelson Ku (
According to news reports, Ku said, the US decided not to sell destroyers equipped with AEGIS defense systems to Taiwan because of concern that it would not be able to adequately safeguard the related military secrets.
He said the US and other countries would not enhance military exchanges with Taiwan until intelligence control has been tightened.
Ku said it was ridiculous that the MND had allowed military officials such as Chuang to download information from the ministry's computers so easily.
The ministry should have developed technology to prevent officials from taking information out of the office, he said.
Tsai said the documents Chuang had leaked did not contain any sensitive information.
However, PFP Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said Chuang was in charge of taking records for the department's intelligence meetings, and consequently would have had access to at least some secrets.
Liu said he suspects that Chuang had leaked more secrets to China than the ministry claims.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a