Officials from the quasi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) yesterday declined to comment on reports regarding the arrests of seven Taiwanese citizens by Chinese authorities last month on charges of espionage.
SEF officials confirmed yesterday, however, that the foundation had received a letter regarding the arrests from its Beijing counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), and that the SEF is working to verify whether the arrests are authentic.
The SEF will give a public explanation on the matter after it finishes its verification work, the officials said.
The SEF and the ARATS were authorized by their governments more than a decade ago to handle exchanges across the Taiwan Strait in the absence of formal ties between the two sides.
ARATS letter said that seven "Taiwan residents" were arrested between Dec. 4 and Dec. 15 in China on suspicions of spying.
According to a report yesterday by the Beijing-based China News Service, Fu Hung-chang (傅宏章), Lee Chieh-shan (林介山), Soong Hsiao-lien (宋孝濂), Wang Chang-yung (王長勇), Chang Keng-huan (張耿桓) and Chang yu-jen (張豫人) were apprehended on Dec. 15 in Guangdong, Fujian, Anhui and Hainan provinces on suspicion of gathering intelligence for Taiwan's military authorities.
A seventh Taiwanese citizen, Tung Tai-ping (
ARATS claimed that all seven men were "cells" dispatched by Taiwan's Military Intelligence Bureau. All of them are in good health, the report said.
In related news, the Cabinet's spokesman warned the pan-blue camp to avoid trying to manipulate reports from China for its own political gain.
Beijing's official Xinhua News Agency reported on Dec. 24 that Chinese security authorities had arrested 24 Taiwanese and 19 Chinese on charges of spying for Taiwan.
Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (
"It's unfair to believe China's accusation that the arrested China-based Taiwanese business-people are engaged in espionage activities before the truth is learnt," Lin told a press conference held after the weekly closed-door Cabinet meeting yesterday afternoon.
"We hope to see more support, less finger-pointing and less political feuding."
As the Chinese government often violates human rights and arrests its own people without justification, it is not surprising to see it persecute Taiwanese people and foreigners, Lin said.
Yen Wan-ching (顏萬進), deputy secretary-general of the SEF, pointed out that it was unusual for Beijing to make public arrests and investigations of espionage activities.
"They used to keep it as a secret but this time they took the initiative to confirm a report by a Hong Kong daily and then send a letter to us," Yen said.
"It'd be very interesting to know the ulterior motive of its change," Yen said.
Yen also called on the Chinese government to treat the seven arrested Taiwanese businesspeople humanely.
"We're very concerned about their health. We'll try to arrange meetings with their families and hire local lawyers if necessary."
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