China on Monday accused Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) of recruiting a couple who worked for the central government to spy for the UK, adding to months of mutual espionage allegations between Beijing and the West.
The Chinese Ministry of State Security said in a post on WeChat that MI6 operatives convinced a man surnamed Wang, who worked in a “core confidential role” in the central state apparatus, to defect along with his wife, surnamed Zhou.
“Recently, after careful investigation, the national security organs uncovered a major espionage case in which the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) instigated a couple, Wang and Zhou, who were staff members of a central state agency of China, to defect,” it said.
Photo: AFP
The ministry said British spies began cultivating Wang after he began a course of study in the UK in 2015, arranging dinners and tours for him to “understand his character weaknesses, interests and demands.”
After learning that Wang “had a strong desire for money,” they then approached him to provide well-paid consulting services that came to involve the internal workings of central state agencies, the ministry said.
MI6 personnel later revealed their identities to Wang and directed him to return to China to collect intelligence, convincing him to coerce Zhou into doing the same.
The ministry said it had gathered evidence and taken “decisive measures” against Wang, adding that the case was under further investigation.
The statement gave no details of Wang’s or Zhou’s current occupations in China, the nature of the information they provided, or their whereabouts.
China and the West have long traded accusations of spying, but only recently started to disclose details of alleged individual cases.
British police last month said that Matthew Trickett, who had been charged with helping Hong Kong to gather intelligence in the UK, had been found dead in unexplained circumstances.
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028. The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this year — two in Hsinchu and three in Kaohsiung — TSMC senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer Cliff Hou (侯永清) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Silicon Valley, California, last week. Output in the first year of 2-nanometer production, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, is expected to
Taiwan’s drone exports surged past US$100 million in the first quarter, exceeding last year’s full-year total, with the Czech Republic emerging as the largest buyer, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Exports of complete drones reached US$115.85 million in the period, about 1.2 times the total recorded for all of last year, the ministry said in a report. Exports to the Czech Republic accounted for about US$100 million, far outpacing other markets. Poland, last year’s top destination, recorded about US$11.75 million in the first quarter. Taiwan’s drone exports have expanded rapidly in the past few years, with last year’s total
RSS