Tue, Feb 15, 2000 page1

• Beijing's spies sent packing by MJIB

  LOOKING GLASS WAR The number of alleged Chinese spies in Taiwan may be falling, but Beijing agents are reportedly hard at work ahead of the March election

  • By Brian Hsu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Intelligence officials said yesterday that espionage agents from China have been operating in Taiwan in the lead-up to the presidential election and that security agencies have been acting to both identify and put a stop such operations.

  Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau director Wang Kuang-yu (王光宇) said that more than ten Chinese nationals visiting Taiwan have been repatriated to China in recent months for suspected "spying" activities -- attempting to collect information related to the March 18 election.

  "Intelligence information shows around 500 PRC nationals are now in Taiwan, engaged in suspected espionage activities. They have come to the island under the cover of identities ranging from scholars and businessmen to relatives of Taiwan citizens," Wang said.

  "It is suspected that they are here mainly to collect information about the presidential election. If any of them are discovered to be engaged in activities not matching their identities, they will be sent home immediately," he said.

  Wang made the remarks at a discussion where officials answered inquiries from the media over the much-hyped alleged infiltration of the island by Chinese spies in recent months.

  The number of suspected Chinese spies in Taiwan, as reported by Wang yesterday, was the lowest-ever public estimate made by the chief of an intelligence agency in recent years. Several years ago the number ran as high as 6,000.

  The figure was still over 1,000 last fall, when the director of the National Security Bureau, General Ting Yu-chou (丁渝洲), spoke at a session of the legislature's defense committee.

  Over the past three years, Wang said, a total of 376 PRC citizens were repatriated for having been "engaged in activities not compatible with the purpose of (their) visits."

  Last year alone, there were over 14,000 PRC nationals who applied for visits to the ROC, he added.

  To curb infiltration attempts by Chinese spies, governmental agencies concerned are now collaborating with each other and will intensify their efforts in the run-up to the election.

  The National Security Bureau has launched a project, dubbed "Cloud Opening" (撥雲) to take control of that work, while the National Police Administration has its own "Mirror Cleaning" (明鏡) project, police officials said.

  The Investigation Bureau has had a special monitoring project targeting PRC nationals for several years, with agents reporting in each week about the subjects under surveillance, said a bureau agent who declined to be identified.

  "No one knows the real number of Chinese spies in Taiwan, not even the top intelligence chief. Estimates of the figure have always been based on reports from investigation agents carrying out the surveillance work," the agent said.

  "The figure had previously been blown out of proportion, reaching as high as 6,000 several years ago when Liao Cheng-hao (廖正豪) was the director of the bureau. After stepping down, Liao had admitted that false reporting by agents had led to the high figure," he said.

  "The figure has now dropped to only 500 or so. The continuous drop in numbers does not mean China has been sending fewer and fewer spies to Taiwan. Rather it indicates some problems with our monitoring system," he said.

  The reason why Taiwan authorities have taken action against only a small portion of the suspected Chinese spies in Taiwan, the agent said, is that they cannot find enough evidence to support a large-scale action.
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