Chinese newspapers say Taiwan uses `sex and money' to assist in espionage

US academic Li Shaomin (李少民), convicted of spying by a Beijing court, is just one example of how Taiwan is stepping up its espionage against China, using sex and money to attract traitors, Chinese state media said yesterday.

"Over the past few years, Taiwan espionage activities on the mainland have been rampant, and the spy cases cracked by mainland security organs have continued to rise," said the Global Times, published by the People's Daily.

The paper said Chinese-born Li, who was convicted on Saturday, was faced with a massive amount of evidence, "forcing him to admit guilt with a lowered head."

"Even though he is one of China's sons, he committed a shameful, ugly act and will be deported from China in disgrace," the paper said, but provided no details of his alleged crimes.

Under Beijing's definition almost any information on China can be regarded as a state secret.

The paper said Li's case reflected expanding Taiwanese efforts to spy on China and mentioned several high-profile cases from recent years.

In July last year, a Beijing court sentenced three people for spying for Taiwan, handing down one suspended death sentence and lengthy prison terms.

The paper said Taiwan's covert activities in China have changed from the early years after the civil war, when the focus was on sabotage and assassinations.

Now Taiwanese spies are charged with gathering intelligence and often arrive in the guise of businessmen or investors, taking advantage of the economic opening between the two sides, the paper claimed.

Often Taiwanese spies try to lure locals with sex, the paper claimed, citing a case where the daughter of a PRC citizen was targeted by a male agent while she was studying in the US.

Taiwanese spies also frequently "go angling" among intelligence targets by offering large amounts of money, the paper said.

"At times, they use neither sex nor money, but so-called `democratic justice' to entice a tiny minority of people who are not happy with the mainland's political system," the paper said.

"For instance, Li Shaomin was in want of nothing, but decided to enter Taiwanese intelligence under the spell of a hostile ideology," it said.

Li, a Chinese-born US academic with a doctorate from Princeton University, was teaching business at a Hong Kong university and conducting research in China up until his arrest. At least five US-linked scholars and businessmen have been detained by Chinese authorities since the beginning of the year.