Liao Hsien-ping (廖憲平), the former Philippines-based Taiwanese spy suspected of also spying for China, told prosecutors yesterday that he was training his 16-year-old son to be a spy as well. Liao was arrested on Tuesday night on suspicion of spying for the communist giant.
"[Liao] told prosecutors that in order to train his son, Liao Wen-fan (廖文梵), he asked the boy to carry out a mission for him on May 25 this year," said Chiang Kuei-chang (姜貴昌), a spokesman of the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office.
Chiang said that Liao gave his son a pre-paid phone card, relevant information and bought him a ticket to Hong Kong on May 25.
Liao instructed his son to deliver a package to Chinese agents. His son then reportedly met with the agents and received a payment of HK$10,000.
After carrying out his father's orders, Liao Wen-fan stayed in Hong Kong for another two days for sightseeing, spent HK$2,000 and then returned to Taiwan on May 28 and handed in the rest of the money to his father.
According to investigation by the Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Investigation, Liao had been working for Chinese authorities since 2000 and his main job in Taiwan was to collect information on Falun Gong practitioners and their families.
The same investigation also said that many Falun Gong members could not enter or return to China, Hong Kong or Macau because local authorities had received information from Liao and had placed them on a list of people to be refused entry.
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