The threat of Chinese espionage has increased, although there have been no national security breaches, officials said yesterday, as the Executive Yuan vowed to propose counterintelligence legislation to prevent Chinese spies from infiltrating the nation’s security agencies.
“China will employ all methods [of espionage], and the issue [of Chinese infiltration] is more serious than ever,” National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Peng Sheng-chu (彭勝竹) said at a question-and-answer session of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) regarding whether China had become more aggressive in penetrating the nation’s security agencies.
Investigation Bureau Director-General Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥), National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chen Kuo-en (陳國恩) and National Immigration Agency (NIA) Director-General Ho Jung-chun (何榮村) all said that the threat has become more severe.
Photo: CNA
The issue of Chinese espionage was raised after Vice Premier Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) told DPP leaders on Wednesday that the Cabinet would devise counterintelligence legislation, in response to DPP Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) saying that “national security agencies have been infiltrated by China.”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) questioned whether any intelligence agency had been breached, but the heads of all of the nation’s security agencies — including the Coast Guard Administration, NSB, NIA, NPA and the Military Intelligence Bureau — denied that their organizations had been infiltrated.
The National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法) stipulates counterespionage responsibilities for national security agencies, so there is no need to create new legislation if the existing legal framework already has counterintelligence requirements, Chiang said.
A draft counterintelligence act proposed by the Investigation Bureau stipulates more severe punishments for security breaches and gives counterintelligence agents “semi-judicial rights” to conduct investigations of suspected espionage, but the Executive Yuan has been redrafting the bill following criticism of its potential to allow for the infringement of human rights.
Separately, authorities denied reports that the son of Kim Jong-nam, the murdered half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was once hidden in Taiwan to escape assassination.
Kim Han-sol has not entered Taiwan, Ho said, adding that he was unaware of Kim Han-sol having transited through Taiwan en route to another nation.
Peng said he had no idea if Kim Han-sol was in Taiwan.
A man claiming to be Kim Han-sol appeared in a video uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday saying that he was safe with his mother and sister.
The group that uploaded the video — Cheollima Civil Defense, an organization that helps North Korean defectors — expressed gratitude to the Netherlands, China, the US and a “fourth government to remain unnamed” for providing assistance in protecting the three.
South Korean and Japanese media reported that the fourth government was Taiwan, and that Kim Han-sol had arrived in Taiwan on Feb. 15, two days after his father was assassinated at Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The assassination is widely believed to have been carried out with the authorization of Kim Jong-un to secure his regime.
Two Malaysian employees of the UN World Food Programme who were stranded in North Korea because of a travel ban have left the country, the UN said yesterday.
Nine other Malaysians are believed to still be stuck there after the two countries’ diplomatic relations broke down over the killing of Kim Jong-nam.
The UN employees were among hundreds of ordinary citizens caught up in the escalating diplomatic battle.
The two arrived in Beijing yesterday, World Food Programme coordinator for global issues Jane Howard said.
“The staff members are international civil servants and not representatives of their national government,” she said.
When North Korea issued its travel ban earlier this week, Malaysia responded in kind, barring North Koreans from leaving its soil.
The nine Malaysians still believed to be in North Korea are three embassy workers and their family members. About 1,000 North Koreans are believed to be in Malaysia, until recently one of the few countries where North Koreans could travel without a visa.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said his government was “in the process of establishing the reasons and motives” behind North Korea’s drastic measure.
He reiterated that diplomatic relations would not be severed to keep the communication line open for negotiations.
Additional reporting by AP
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique