About 200 recently retired military and intelligence officials have violated regulations that restrict their travel and some may be working for China, a government report said yesterday.
The report by the Control Yuan -- the government's top official watchdog -- was alarming because it suggested that possible intelligence leaks could make Taiwan dangerously vulnerable to its massive communist neighbor.
If Taiwan can't take care of this intelligence problem, "we won't be able to guarantee our national security," said Kang Ning-hsiang (康寧祥), a Control Yuan member.
Within the past three years, 414 officers have retired from the military and intelligence services, the Control Yuan said.
Under law, the officials must wait three years before they can travel freely to China. If they wish to visit China before that time, they must pass a government review.
However, the report said that records show that at least 200 of the retired officials have gone through customs in Hong Kong -- a popular transit point for Taiwanese traveling to China. There are no direct shipping or aviation links between China and Taiwan.
One official suspected of having illegal contacts with China is Yeh Ping-nan (葉炳南), the retired head of a military intelligence bureau in Hong Kong, the Control Yuan said.
Yeh has allegedly offered to share intelligence with Chinese officials, who have detained him in China, the report said.
The report also said Lieutenant General Weng Yen-ching (翁衍慶) and Major General Kung Hsiang-jen (孔祥人), former vice presidents of the Military Affairs Bureau, had gone to China shortly after retiring.
Another former official spotlighted in the report was Major General Pan Hsi-hsien (潘希賢), the former chief of the personnel department at the National Security Bureau.
Three days after retiring, Pan disappeared into China without further contact with Taiwanese officials.
Because Pan was in charge employment, examinations and training, officials fear his knowledge of the National Security Bureau may be of value to officials in China.
Taiwan has undergone dramatic political change that might have shaken the loyalties of some military and intelligence officials.
For several decades, the government has been dominated by a minority of China-born officials who fled to Taiwan with the former-ruling KMT in 1949. The mainlanders generally favor unification with China.
Within the past decade, native Taiwanese leaders have come to power and have promoted a stronger Taiwanese identity. Many of the mainlanders suspect that the new leaders favor independence from China, and the mainlanders feel alienated by the new leadership. This might have prompted some to shift their loyalties to China.
The Control Yuan report cited this confused sense of loyalty as a serious problem. "The intelligence officials don't treat the Communist Chinese as an enemy," the report said.
Kang said yesterday the Cabinet should designate a minister without the portfolio to re-evaluate military intelligence affairs and the nation's security system.
"Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) has promised to consider possible solutions with a serious attitude," Kang said.
Other Control Yuan members also said the Cabinet should form a special team to examine the nation's security system and prevent future losses of intelligence.
One proposal is stiffen penalties for former military officials who break rules by traveling to China.
Currently, fines range between NT$20,000 and NT$100,000. Government officials have said the penalties should be raised to as high as NT$1 million.
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