Allegations that military officials and former legislators' assistants have been spying on behalf of the Chinese government has apparently given lawmakers some food for thought.
While some legislators yesterday warned the Ministry of National Defense to guard against China's possible use of "female charms" to infiltrate the nation's intelligence network, other called on their colleagues to promote secrecy in the legislature.
DPP legislators Trong Chai (
According to Chai and Lin, a large number of Chinese women have come to Taiwan through illegal means and work in brothels -- and some of them have even been admitted to high-class social functions.
"Under these circumstances, there is no guarantee that the beauties sitting next to the military officials and politicians aren't secret agents from China," Lin said.
On the other hand, Tsai said, some 540,000 Chinese citizens have visited Taiwan legally since Taipei adopted a more open policy toward China in the late 1980s, and there are currently around 36,000 Chinese nationals residing in Taiwan.
Chai said intelligence agencies have discovered some suspicious similarities in the backgrounds of many of these Chinese residents.
These include the fact that many of them live or have lived in the neighborhood of military compounds -- and many have registered their households under the same address.
According to Lin, the Chinese government gives its citizens "pre-departure education" before they come to Taiwan, and they also have to make a report to their government after they return to China.
This shows that China has resorted to every possible means to spy on Taiwan, Lin added.
Meanwhile, KMT legislator Yang Li-huan (楊麗環) yesterday urged all legislators to promote secrecy and to enhance their assistants' awareness of secrecy, as national secrets may be leaked to China easily if they are not able to resist the temptation of money.
Yang confirmed that a former legislative assistant, who is allegedly spying on behalf of China, had contacted one of her former staff members early this month and asked him to help her get copies of the country's confidential budgets for foreign and cross-strait affairs.
This same former legislative assistant had also contacted other former colleagues of hers, and her office has reported the matter to the National Security Bureau for investigation, Yang said.
Chen Yen-chih (陳彥智), the director of Yang's office, who is one of the people who had been contacted by the suspect, said the former legislative assistant had offered him NT$70,000 per month for espionage services, with bonuses based on the importance of the documents collected.
Chen said he was told that the documents were to be submitted to the Taiwan Affairs Office under China's State Council.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
Speeding and badly maintained roads were the main causes of a school bus accident on a rainy day in Taipei last year that severely injured two people and left 22 with minor injuries, the Taiwan Transportation and Safety Board said. On March 11 last year, a Kang Chiao International School bus overturned inside the Wenshan Tunnel (文山隧道) on the northbound lane of the Xinyi Expressway. The tour bus, owned by Long Lai Co, exceeded the speed limit after entering the tunnel, the board’s investigation found. Sensing that the rear of the vehicle was swaying, the driver attempted to use the service and exhaust
Central and southern Taiwan are to see increasingly heavy rainfall from last night through Friday due to the effects of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said Tropical Storm Co-May had weakened into a low-pressure system on Saturday, but that it strengthened again into a tropical depression (TD 11) near the seas around Japan's Ryukyu Islands due to favorable environmental conditions. The tropical depression is expected to persist for two to three days, moving west-northwest by this afternoon and reaching China's Zhejiang through the East China Sea tomorrow,
RSS