In Germany, incidents of China trying to gather intelligence through educational exchanges have been exposed repeatedly over the past few years.
German Minister of the Interior and Community Nancy Faeser said that the danger was particularly considerable in the economic, industrial and science sectors, and warned that German companies, universities and research institutions should be highly vigilant.
She said that every precaution should be taken to prevent Chinese infiltration, and highlighted three priorities to enhance Germany’s security: identifying risks, averting dangers and avoiding dependencies.
In the name of educational collaboration, China has been sending doctoral students to participate in German companies’ research projects. These students have access to the companies’ information technology. After they return to China, they file a patent application and turn German technologies into Chinese ones.
It should be mentioned that incidents such as this have happened elsewhere, and China’s aim is to steal technologies and gather intelligence from foreign countries.
As Faeser said, Chinese spies’ activities have put Germany’s economy, industry and scientific research at risk. Precautionary measures must be implemented to stop them.
China has never stopped sending students to foreign countries for “educational exchanges.” It is clear that Beijing intends to steal confidential intelligence from others.
On April 26, the newly revised Anti-Espionage Law of the People’s Republic of China was passed and is to come into effect on July 1. In addition to the current 40 articles, another 31 have been added to the law.
With the revised law, the Chinese government can prohibit foreign media from reporting on the actual situation in China, while reinforcing the surveillance of foreigners in Chinese territory. This way, stealing foreign companies’ production secrets in China would not be against the law, and the stolen information and technologies could be put to use for China.
Under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) rule, the Chinese government has jettisoned international norms and challenged the global world order. China has been engaging in the theft of civilian technologies overseas and appropriating them for its military use.
The purpose is to bolster the power of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. In the near term, China might become so powerful that all foreigners in Chinese territory could be in danger. Traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau should therefore be avoided.
Visiting places that are greatly influenced by China might be dangerous as well. To protect its own information and intelligence, every country should improve its pre-emptive measures and defense against China.
Yi An is an assistant at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies.
Translated by Emma Liu
Chinese actor Alan Yu (于朦朧) died after allegedly falling from a building in Beijing on Sept. 11. The actor’s mysterious death was tightly censored on Chinese social media, with discussions and doubts about the incident quickly erased. Even Hong Kong artist Daniel Chan’s (陳曉東) post questioning the truth about the case was automatically deleted, sparking concern among overseas Chinese-speaking communities about the dark culture and severe censorship in China’s entertainment industry. Yu had been under house arrest for days, and forced to drink with the rich and powerful before he died, reports said. He lost his life in this vicious
A recent trio of opinion articles in this newspaper reflects the growing anxiety surrounding Washington’s reported request for Taiwan to shift up to 50 percent of its semiconductor production abroad — a process likely to take 10 years, even under the most serious and coordinated effort. Simon H. Tang (湯先鈍) issued a sharp warning (“US trade threatens silicon shield,” Oct. 4, page 8), calling the move a threat to Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” which he argues deters aggression by making Taiwan indispensable. On the same day, Hsiao Hsi-huei (蕭錫惠) (“Responding to US semiconductor policy shift,” Oct. 4, page 8) focused on
In South Korea, the medical cosmetic industry is fiercely competitive and prices are low, attracting beauty enthusiasts from Taiwan. However, basic medical risks are often overlooked. While sharing a meal with friends recently, I heard one mention that his daughter would be going to South Korea for a cosmetic skincare procedure. I felt a twinge of unease at the time, but seeing as it was just a casual conversation among friends, I simply reminded him to prioritize safety. I never thought that, not long after, I would actually encounter a patient in my clinic with a similar situation. She had
George Santayana wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This article will help readers avoid repeating mistakes by examining four examples from the civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forces and the Republic of China (ROC) forces that involved two city sieges and two island invasions. The city sieges compared are Changchun (May to October 1948) and Beiping (November 1948 to January 1949, renamed Beijing after its capture), and attempts to invade Kinmen (October 1949) and Hainan (April 1950). Comparing and contrasting these examples, we can learn how Taiwan may prevent a war with
RSS