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Watch for spies, CSIST warned

A DPP lawmaker yesterday warned against a loophole in the nation's information security system, one day after newspaper reports that a member of staff at ChungShan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) had been arrested for allegedly leaking classified information to China.

DPP Legislator Trong Chai (蔡同榮) said institute employee Chen Shih-liang (陳士良) is not an isolated case and that the Chinese government is tunneling to the heart of the science and technology hub. Trong also said Beijing possesses a list of research staff with information regarding individual research fields and specialized backgrounds.

Chen was one of three people involved in allegations of cross-strait military leaks disclosed on Tuesday. The other two are not connected to the insitute. Chen is under investigation for allegedly stealing military secrets from his office and sending them to his contact in China via e-mail.

Chai said that more than 100 researchers from the institute, under the Ministry of National Defense, left the army and were recruited by private companies and businesses over the past five years.

The legislator said some of them could have been transferred to China as expatriates by Taiwanese corporations.

The defense ministry has helped 500 officers attain doctorates and more than 4,000 gain master's degrees. Chai said it is regretful that the ministry has lost some of this talents after supplying them with professional and high-tech know-how.

"But the possibility that these excellent personnel could be capitalized on by the Chinese government is a greater anxiety to us since many of them are working for private businesses and stationed in China," Chai said.

"We've learned that the Chinese government demanded that some high-tech Taiwanese companies transfer their staff -- who were former personnel in the military research center -- to China. The Chinese authorities then tried everything to lure these professionals and persuade them to collaborate with Beijing," Chai said.

"The science and technology institute had played a significant role in many programs aiming to advance the nation's electronic warfare capability. Any more leakages relating to these programs could jeopardize the tremendous amounts of money and manpower put into these projects," Chai said.

DPP Legislator Charles Chiang (江昭儀) said that some defectors of these former military personnel had finished their intelligence training in China and might have returned to Taiwan to do business and act as stool pigeons in the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park or at the science and technology institute.

"They are there to steal top secret information on technology developed by Taiwanese manufacturers and the army," Chiang said.

Chai and Chiang issued the warnings yesterday after officials with the CIST confirmed in a closed-door meeting with lawmakers in the last legislative session that the army is incapable of supervising retired military officials and stopping them from divulging national secrets to foreign authorities, such as China.

The officials were explicit that the national defense department is unable to regulate retired officials or prohibit them from working for civilian companies.

The lawmakers said the political warfare department in the military system is responsible for supervising army personnel and preventing similar cases in the future.
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