China Unification Promotion Party central committee member Chang Meng-chung (張孟崇) and his wife were indicted on Monday on charges of accepting NT$74 million (US$2.3 million) from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to interfere in Taiwan’s elections and to induce members of the military to surrender should China invade Taiwan.
Judicial investigators in Chiayi said the couple had received the money, directly and indirectly, from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing and its branch office in China’s Fujian Province to broadcast pro-Beijing propaganda on digital platforms in Taiwan to interfere with the nation’s elections, disparage Hong Kong democracy activists, boast about China’s military power and urge troops to surrender in the event of a Chinese invasion.
It is not news that China has long tried to recruit Taiwanese to act as propaganda mouthpieces and spies to access confidential information. This case has further demonstrated the “megabucks” that China would spend, which reportedly flowed through third countries or areas, including Hong Kong and the US, to sway Taiwanese public opinion and to lure Taiwanese for espionage.
Experts said that if Chinese intelligence units could spend NT$74 million to buy off a pro-China person like Chang, much more financial incentives could be or have been spread from the Chinese central and local governments’ “united front” funds to influential dignitaries and opinion leaders.
According to the National Security Bureau, from last year to August this year, it had investigated at least 87 cases involving national security violations, mostly election interference and the leaking of crucial confidential information, of which 42 cases had resulted in indictments. That represented a significant increase from the average of five to 10 cases under investigation per year from 2013 to 2022.
It should be more alarming that, succumbing to China’s financial temptations, the number of military officers lured as spies to serve Beijing’s cause of taking over Taiwan has notably increased. A report by the Control Yuan showed that from 2011 to last year, 40 spy cases involving 113 military and civilian personnel had been uncovered by the Ministry of National Defense’s intelligence units. That marked a significant increase from only 13 spy cases involving nine military and civilian personnel from 2001 to 2010.
Those cases serve as a crucial warning: The perpetrators lured by China used to be mostly retired officers, but recently involved more active-duty soldiers, especially those in financial difficulties. For example, in September, Tainan prosecutors indicted 23 people on charges of spying for China, including eight active military officers who were in debt and were wooed by a Chinese spy ring through pawnshops and online loan companies.
Aside from providing confidential information and developing spy rings, China has also requested those officers show loyalty to the CCP and vow to surrender to the Chinese military if it invaded Taiwan.
The Control Yuan’s report further highlighted that since COVID-19 pandemic, the CCP’s intelligence units have explored various tactics to recruit Taiwanese military personnel, including the use of online mediums such as mobile games, with the number of such incidents reaching a staggering 1,706 in about two years. Some cases even showed that cryptocurrency was extensively used to bribe young soldiers.
The upgrade of “money talks” spy recruitment tactics has escalated Chinese espionage and imposed greater challenges for Taiwanese authorities to detect and counter Chinese infiltration.
The government should speed up the strengthening of counterintelligence forces, and boost the morale of the army and public in resisting the devil’s temptation.
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