Former Chinese student Zhou Hongxu (周泓旭) was detained incommunicado on suspicion of recruiting people for a spy ring while enrolled at a Taipei university and trying to coerce government officials into passing on classified materials.
The Taipei District Court yesterday cited the risk of 29-year-old Zhou fleeing the nation and an ongoing investigation.
Prosecutors and officers of the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau National Security Section on Thursday raided Zhou’s rented apartment in Taipei, confiscating his computer and mobile phone.
Screengrab from Facebook
Zhou was taken into custody for questioning by prosecutors, who said there was sufficient evidence to charge him with violating the National Security Act (國家安全法)
He had tried to develop a spy ring as a student and attempted to obtain classified materials from universities and government agencies, prosecutors said.
In 2009, Zhou, then 21 and enrolled at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, reportedly came to Taiwan as an exchange student for a business and finance program at New Taipei City’s Tamkang University.
Zhou later enrolled in a master of business administration program at Taipei-based National Chengchi University (NCCU) from September 2012 to July last year and returned to China after obtaining his degree.
Last month, Zhou returned to Taiwan on an “investment and business” visa to work at a firm in Taipei, officials said.
His Facebook page is full of a photographs documenting his travels around the nation and attending various events, as he was reportedly active in campus networking activities, and had accumulated more than 1,400 friends on the social network.
Prosecutors said that Zhou tried to entice a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official with a US dollar reward and an all-expenses-paid trip to Japan, in exchange for classified materials that would be delivered to a contact in Japan.
Bureau officials said they believe Zhou was instructed by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) to enroll at NCCU, where he was to actively make friends and develop a spy ring, adding that he had tried to recruit students and government officials.
“There have been 55 Chinese espionage cases since 2008, but that figure is only the tip of the iceberg,” said a bureau official investigating the case, who asked not to be named. “China has sent numerous operatives under different covers to infiltrate our society and government agencies.”
Zhou’s is the first known case of a Chinese student being investigated for espionage since they were allowed to enroll at Taiwanese universities during the administration of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday said its policies on Chinese students remained unchanged, despite Zhou’s case.
“However, Chinese students studying in Taiwan should abide by our laws and make learning their priority,” the council said, adding that it would respect authorities’ handling of the case.
Urging both sides of the Taiwan Strait to cherish the long-term achievements of student exchanges, the council said the government would continue efforts to attract Chinese students, in a bid to promote mutual understanding between young people on both sides of the Strait and to facilitate cross-strait peace.
Separately yesterday, TAO spokesman spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) said in Beijing that “the Taiwan authority’s accusation against the office on this matter is pure fabrication intended to stir up trouble.”
“This has come at a time when Taiwanese independence forces have been hyping up a ‘serious infiltration by Chinese spies in Taiwan,’ so we question the motives behind the case,” he said.
“Taiwan has interfered in normal cross-strait exchanges between schools, and now it is making a big deal about a Chinese student there,” Ma Xiaoguang said. “This will only further damage the goodwill between compatriots and harm educational exchange programs, resulting in the cross-strait relationship deteriorating.”
Additional reporting by Stacy Hsu and CNA
SURPRISE GUEST: Media reports identified the visitor as Admiral Michael Studeman, director of the J2, which oversees intelligence at the US military’s Indo-Pacific Command A two-star US Navy admiral overseeing US military intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region has made an unannounced visit to Taiwan, two sources told Reuters on Sunday. The sources, who include a Taiwanese official familiar with the situation, said the official was Rear Admiral Michael Studeman. They were speaking on condition of anonymity. After initially saying on Sunday night that it had no comment about the report, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it welcomed the visit of an “unidentified US official,” but declined to give more details because the trip “has not been made public.” Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) yesterday
DEFENSE: The construction of indigenous submarines will be a testament to the nation’s commitment to safeguard its sovereignty, President Tsai Ing-wen said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony to mark the start of construction of the nation’s first indigenous submarine at state-run shipbuilder CSBC Corp’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. “This submarine is an important part of allowing our navy to develop asymmetric warfare and to intimidate and block enemy ships from surrounding Taiwan’s main island,” Tsai said. “With the construction of the submarine to its future commission, we will certainly let the world know our persistence in safeguarding our sovereignty.” Tsai has made boosting the nation’s indigenous defense capacity a central pillar of her defense policy. She recently relaunched the
ESPIONAGE CHARGE: A TAO spokesperson said that the rights of Shih Cheng-ping were ‘fully safeguarded’ during the hearing, which handed him four years in prison China sentenced Shih Cheng-ping (施正屏), a former National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) professor, to four years in jail for espionage, officials said yesterday. The ruling came a month after Shih made a televised “confession” on state media. Shih, who is also a former chief economist for Chinese conglomerate Huaxia Group (華夏集團), was found guilty by a Chinese court on Tuesday, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) told a news briefing. Shih — who vanished after traveling to China in August 2018 — was among Taiwanese who China Central Television (CCTV) last month showed confessing to spying. CCTV often broadcasts suspects admitting to crimes, even
TIMELINE QUESTIONS: Chen Shih-chung said: ‘If anyone could assure us that we could get the shots in the first quarter of next year, we could set off firecrackers’ Taiwan has secured nearly 15 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported five new imported infections among travelers from Indonesia and the Philippines. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that Taiwan on Monday signed a procurement contract with a COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer and paid a deposit to secure 10 million doses. It was the first contract finalized with a manufacturer and negotiations are under way with three other vaccine makers, Chen said. With the more than 4.6 million doses that can be obtained through the COVAX platform —
RSS