The accusations of alleged spying against former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) have led to serious concerns over national security.
Since the National Assembly abolished the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion (動員戡亂時期臨時條款) on April 22, 1991, Chinese spy cases have generally concerned military leaks. This time around it is not a military matter and it involves a top-level official directly appointed by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) infiltration of Taiwan has reached unprecedented levels. The most infamous non-military official involved in spying on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was undoubtedly Luo Qingchang (羅青長), who passed away in Beijing last year. From the Chinese Civil War onward Luo spent all his time dealing with the KMT. He first joined CCP spy chief Wu Defeng (吳德峰) and began infiltrating the Nationalist army. After the KMT fled to Taiwan he became one of then-Chinese premier Zhou Enlai’s (周恩來) trusted aides and served as vice secretary-general of the State Council, where he was in charge of foreign affairs, intelligence and Taiwan affairs.
After the CCP took power, a lot of attention was given to Taiwan and Hong Kong, which remained beyond the CCP’s reach. As the highest leader of the intelligence service, Zhou pursued a “termite policy,” according to a former top CCP official speaking on a Hong Kong television program discussing the Hong Kong annexation process.
A tree attacked by termites will always fall, regardless of how pretty its exterior is or how large it is. Hong Kong is a perfect example.
Beginning in 1957, the Hong Kong and Macau Working Committee, which was responsible for infiltrating Hong Kong, was sent there directly, with important members of the committee officially posted there, carrying out their duties through the local branch of the Xinhua news agency. It was not until negotiations began between the UK and China regarding the handover of Hong Kong that the territory’s residents began to understand the CCP’s influence in the territory, but by then it was already too late.
Compared with the unfamiliarity of Hong Kongers to CCP infiltration, the people of Taiwan lived through the persecution of the White Terror era when the KMT was constantly searching for “communist bandits.” Then-president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) worked tirelessly to instill the feeling that the CCP was an enemy bent on destroying Taiwan, which also became the rationale behind his dictatorship. Therefore, it is preposterous that, since taking office in 2008, Ma has been trying to convince people that the CCP is now suddenly Taiwan’s ally.
As China holds a gun in one hand and offers the other hand in friendship, Ma wants the nation to fully embrace the offer of friendship. The Chang case will reveal the reality that the Ma administration, which is selling Taiwan down the river, does not want the public to see: The CCP is Taiwan’s enemy.
In addition, the CCP did nothing to offer any kind of clarification for several days after the news broke, and it did not reject either the view that Chang was a communist spy or that it has been infiltrating Taiwan, when it did finally issue a statement.
The rushed removal of Chang from office clearly implies that the Ma administration had underestimated the extent of this infiltration. The nation should demonstrate its dissatisfaction by halting all official exchanges with China for an indeterminate period. Furthermore, the policy of all-out cooperation with the CCP must be reconsidered, including termination of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).
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