The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday confirmed to the Taipei Times that US authorities are assisting Taiwan with an investigation into the activities of General Lo Hsien-che (羅賢哲), who was arrested last month on suspicion of spying for China.
Lo’s espionage activity, described as possibly the worst spy case to hit Taiwan in the past half century, is believed to have begun in 2004 when he was recruited by Chinese intelligence while he was posted in Thailand. News of the arrest sparked fears that Taiwan’s military might have been severely compromised, especially its command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems, to which Lo is believed to have had access.
As the great majority of defense platforms used by Taiwan’s military are acquired from the US, there has also been speculation that the developments could have negative repercussions on US-Taiwan military relations at a time when US President Barack Obama’s administration already appears reluctant to release additional arms packages to Taipei.
One possible casualty, some analysts claim, could be the politically sensitive sale of F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan.
Following announcements by the military that a probe into Lo’s actions has been launched, AIT spokesperson Sheila Paskman told the Taipei Times by telephone that US authorities were assisting with the investigation, without specifying the level of assistance or which agency was involved.
Asked to confirm US involvement in the investigation, the Ministry of National Defense said it had no comment on the case, citing investigation confidentiality. However, it said that if there were concrete developments in the investigation, the ministry would offer a public explanation at the appropriate time.
According to reports, Washington informed Taipei of Lo’s activities after US intelligence officials operating in Asia intercepted communications between him and his Chinese handlers.
Despite Lo’s access to classified defense material, a preliminary damage assessment shared with the Taipei Times indicates that the information Lo might have passed to Chinese intelligence was not highly sensitive or overwhelmingly damaging to Taiwan’s security.
Asked to comment on the possible impact of the Lo case on the US-Taiwan security relationship, Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the US-Taiwan Business Council, which is closely involved in arms sales to Taiwan, said the ramifications would likely be minimal.
“The US has a global exports control policy,” he said, with the risks inherent to technological transfers always factored in on decisions whether to sell arms to a country or not.
“Leaks [like the Lo case] don’t typically impact important security relations” such as that between Taiwan and the US, he said.
Although the scope and impact of Lo’s espionage activity has yet to be fully established, Hammond-Chambers said he believed that, in the worst case scenario, the incident would add further delays to defense cooperation projects while the authorities conduct a damage assessment.
However, Wendell Minnick, Asia bureau chief at Defense News, said the arrest was further evidence Taiwan’s communications networks would suffer “catastrophic failure” during a war with China.
The main focus of Chinese espionage against Taiwan’s military, Minnick said, has been the Po Sheng (“Broad Victory”) program, an umbrella project to modernize Taiwan’s C4ISR capabilities.
“No more evidence is needed than the arrests over the past several years of other spies working for China, including two senior US Pentagon officials, Gregg Bergersen and James Fondren,” he said.
Bergersen, director of the Pentagon’s C4ISR efforts at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, was the Pentagon’s top official on Po Sheng efforts. Chinese intelligence recruited him via Kuo Tai-shen (郭台生), a Taiwanese spy who was also working on Po Sheng.
Fondren was also recruited by Kuo and provided information to China on a variety of defense programs. All three are now in a US federal prison.
Tropical Storm Koinu is expected to come closest to Taiwan from Wednesday through Friday as it passes through the Bashi Channel, but it remained uncertain how it would affect the weather, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am yesterday, Koinu was about 1,000km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving northwest at 12kph, the CWA said. Koinu is likely to strengthen into a typhoon today or tomorrow and turn west as it enters the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan proper, CWA forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. The storm’s trajectory is still unclear, so more time is
Taichung prosecutors yesterday indicted three people on charges of fraud for allegedly passing off watches assembled in Taiwan as Swiss-made timepieces and earning NT$400 million (US$12.4 million) in illicit gains. The Taichung branch office of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau said in a statement that the group, headed by Mei Hua Precision Industry Co (梅華精密) and Laora Trading Co (仁徠貿易) manager Yang Hung-pin (楊鴻斌), had purchased the rights to use the Swiss trademark Ogival years ago and from November 2006 to December 2020 sold 26,282 counterfeit watches in department stores and online platforms in Taiwan. The branch office said they received
PALAU LAUNCHES: The source said that Taiwanese military personnel traveled to Palau, where a US brigade watched their work amid plans for a defense network The military last month participated in live-fire launches of MM-104F Patriot (PAC-3) missiles under US observation in an undisclosed location in Palau, a step forward in a US-led plan to create a joint defense missile system in the first island chain, a source said on condition of anonymity. The PAC-3 is the mainstay surface-to-air missile of the US, NATO and democratic nations in East Asia, the source said, adding that it has never been live-tested within Taiwan’s borders, the source said. The proximity of Taiwan to China and China’s close surveillance of the nation’s borders and nearby sea zones is a significant
TRAJECTORY: Koinu’s outer rim is expected to reach Orchid Island early tomorrow and Taitung at about noon, where waves of at least 6m are forecast A sea warning for Typhoon Koinu was issued at 11:30pm last night, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that a land warning could be issued today. High waves of about 2m were observed in Taitung yesterday, while waves of 6m or higher were forecast for today, said Huang Chia-mei (黃嘉美), head of the CWA’s Taitung Weather Station. At noon yesterday, Koinu was about 660km southeast of Taitung, she said, adding that it was moving more to the north and its center could possibly make landfall. The storm’s outer rim would likely reach Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) in the early hours tomorrow and