A retired Taiwan intelligence agent said yesterday that the issue of ideology is one of the major reasons behind a decline in intelligence from China.
The former official with the Military Intelligence Bureau, who preferred to remain anonymous, was commenting on remarks by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in his soon-to-be-published book that intelligence from China has decreased significantly since he assumed office in the Taiwan's first-ever transition of power.
In the past, the former agent said, the most effective way to recruit people from China to work for the bureau was to persuade them to "provide intelligence and information for the sake of eventual reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait."
"As Chen's Democratic Progressive Party used to espouse Taiwan independence," he said, "some mainland intelligence agents have become reluctant to risk their lives to work for Taiwan after the inauguration of the DPP government."
The ex-official, who was in charge of China intelligence during his 30-plus years of service with the bureau before his retirement last year, said some senior agents applied for retirement after the DPP took the helm of the nation. "They intended to leave the [bureau] because they were not used to working for a non-Kuomintang government made up of what had been an outlawed group -- the pro-independence DPP," he said.
He also attributed the decline to a Chinese anti-espionage campaign and has refrained from publishing or circulating sensitive documents in order to better protect their military secrets.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders and their family members off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan. The bipartisan bill, which would also publish the assets of top Chinese leaders, was cosponsored by Republican US Representative French Hill, Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman and seven others. If the US president determines that a threat against Taiwan exists, the bill would require the US Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on funds held by certain members of the
RSS