Newsmaker: Former top secret agent provides political views

Former of the Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Investigation, Wang Kuang-yu (王光宇), last week became the first secret agent to publish a book about his 37-year career at the bureau.

His book, Neutral, was launched at a press conference on July 9. Two former heads of the bureau, Weng Wen-wei (翁文維) and Wu Tung-ming (吳東明), as well as current Director-General Yeh Sheng-mao (葉盛茂) and two Deputy Director-Generals, Cheng Ming-shun (鄭明順) and Tsui Hsiang-sheng (崔祥昇), were present at the launch to endorse Wang's book, which is actually his biography.

Wang regarded as a "transmitting director-general" of the bureau when the DPP was gradually taking over control of the country's politics, the military, intelligence agencies and the police from the KMT government after President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was elected in 2000. However, Wang always regarded himself as a loyal KMT member.

"Whoever works at the bureau should stay neutral toward politics. That is the bottom line to being a special agent," Wang said. "However, I am proud to say that I have been a loyal KMT member throughout my life and since I have retired from the force." Wang's statement was endorsed by his then-supervisor Wu.

"Everybody knows that Wang is a loyal KMT member but everybody also knows that he never mixed his passion for the party with his job. It is very difficult but he really did it," Wu said at the press conference.

Arguments conflicts between Wang and Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) are nothing new and these made front pages when Wang left the bureau in 2001.

Chen to replace the bureau with two new offices -- the Political Inspection Agency and the Drug Enforcement Agency -- but his proposal was rejected by Wang.

Wang said in public, "Chen knows nothing about the bureau. It will take us more than four hours to brief him about everything but I am afraid that our four-hour briefing will still be in vain, even if we do that." Wang also explained in his book why he did not like Chen.

"He is always extremely picky on his fellow officials. However, if his requests or orders make sense, I will definitely follow them. If they don't, I will ignore them. As a result, I think he does not like me more than I like him," Wang said.

While by reporters at Wang's press conference, Yeh refused to comment on Wang's complaining about the minister as a former special agent. But, when asked whether he would issue a biography like Wang's, he immediately said, "Impossible."

Wang born in Henan Province, China, on Sept. 4, 1940 but grew up in Tainan, Taiwan.

His father, Wang Yi-min (王宜民), was a major and a military special agent. General Tai Li (戴笠), who established the KMT's intelligence-agency system during Chiang Kai-shek's presidency, was Wang Yi-min's supervisor. Wang Yi-min later switched careers to become a police officer and because of his background, he encouraged Wang Kuang-yu and his younger brother Wang Kuang-yuan (王光源), who retired from the military intelligence agency, to apply themselves as special agents.

According to Wang Kuang-yu, the Wangs first lived in Kaohsiung in 1949 when the KMT government lost the civil war to the Chinese communists. They moved to Tainan when his father was transferred to the Tainan City Police Department in 1951.

In 1959, Wang passed the Joint College Entrance Exam and gained admission to the Cooperative Business Department of the National Chung Hsing University's Taipei Campus.

"I love my people and my country. As a result, I wanted to protect innocent people like my father did after I graduated from college," Wang said in the book. "So I decided to join the bureau and become a special agent," he said.

He passed the national exam to qualify as a special agent and began his training course in March, 1964. In July, he started at the bureau's Taipei City Office. Wang's first assignment at the bureau was "political surveillance." Back in the Martial Law era, "political surveillance" actually meant trying to find people whose political policies were against the government, as well as potential communists and spies.

Only month later, he was transferred to the Tainan City Office. In November of the same year, then-director-general Shen Chi-yueh (沈之岳), who is regarded as the father of the bureau, ordered Wang to help and work at the National Security Bureau, which is also an intelligence agency for national security specifically.

"Working for the bureau holds special memories for me," Wang said. "That was when and where I met my wife."