Ex-spies say they were abandoned

Accompanied by KMT lawmaker Jow Bo-yuan (卓柏源), a group of fishermen held a news conference yesterday during which they claimed that the Taiwan government recruited them as intelligence agents and then abandoned them on a mission 40 years ago.

The fishermen claimed that they were tortured in a Chinese prison, and, after their release, the Taiwan government forced them to receive military "reformatory education."

The fishermen are now petitioning for government compensation for their ordeal.

The fishermen, now in their 50s and 60s, say that the Military Intelligence Bureau under the Ministry of National Defense set up a fishing company in Keelung in 1964 to conduct intelligence gathering operations in China.

The fishermen took up employment with the company without being informed of the nature of their work, and were thereafter coerced into compliance.

Despite the dangerous nature of their work, their salaries were no greater than those of ordinary fishermen. On July 11, 1964, China intercepted two of their boats. The crews were detained and tortured by the Chinese.

The fishermen said that after they returned home, the Taiwan government detained them out of fear that they had become double agents. Because of their tarnished security record, nobody had the courage to employ them after their release.

Shu Chin-chiang (蘇進強), a senior advisor of the National Security Council, said he personally felt that the government should take responsibility for the men's plight, although it was the work of the KMT government.

Shu said this is because the new government is a continuum of the old. He called this incident a "historical tragedy."

"It is doubtful if any records of the operation can be recovered," he said, "but the government should do its best to uncover the truth and act accordingly."

DPP lawmaker Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) said: "If their claim is true, the government is obliged in every way to give them their due compensation."

The fishermen's claim for compensation from the state was rejected by a local court last week. Jow said that he was resolved to petition the government, especially the Military Intelligence Bureau, on the fishermen's behalf.

He said that they should be compensated as intelligence officers, not mercenaries, because the fishermen did not volunteer for their work.

"Some of them tried to refuse working for the company, but the intelligence agents in charge said that accidents might happen to their families if they did," Jow said.