The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday.
In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies.
Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information from Taiwan’s government, the report said.
Photo: Reuters
The bureau said it hoped that the report would help Taiwanese to better understand the CCP’s espionage operations in Taiwan.
The majority of people targeted by the CCP for recruitment are current or retired military personnel, it said.
Of the 64 spies prosecuted last year, 15 were retired military personnel, accounting for 23 percent of the total, while 28 were active personnel (43 percent of the total), it said.
Giving an example of how the CCP coerces military personnel, the report cited the case of one-star general Lo Hsien-che (羅賢哲), who was caught in a honey trap scheme while stationed in Thailand and later leaked military secrets to Chinese officials in exchange for payment.
The CCP infiltrates Taiwan through engagement with local gangs, illegal private money lenders, shell companies, religious groups and nonprofit organizations, the report said.
The CCP seeks operatives in Taiwan by building network connections, using financial incentives, coercing people with debt, and infiltrating military, government and civil society organizations, it said, adding that China also tries to interfere with elections in Taiwan.
The NSB said it has found evidence that gangs recruited by the CCP were asked to raise Chinese flags and engage in armed insurrection in the event of an attempted invasion by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
The insurrection plans called for trained snipers in Taiwan to attack members of the military and foreign organizations, the report said.
It also called for military personnel to fly helicopters to China to surrender during an invasion and to hand over Taiwan’s defense plans to the CCP ahead of such an invasion, it said.
The CCP pays recruits by transferring money through digital payment services or using cryptocurrencies, making payments hard to trace, the report said.
The NSB has established a mechanism for cooperation across the bureau, military and investigative agencies to address Chinese espionage, it said.
Prosecutions and conviction rates of spies have increased, and last year, investigators cracked a spy ring involving 23 people and sentenced one spy to 20 years of imprisonment, the report said.
The detection of espionage has been helped in the past few years by clues provided by military officers and soldiers, and the public, which showed that public awareness of security issues has greatly increased, it added.
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