Island infiltrators: Taiwan spy scandals expose frailty of political and military defences

Date:

A growing number of espionage cases are rattling Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), piercing deep into the island’s political and military core and exposing worrying vulnerabilities in its counter-intelligence systems.
The mounting revelations of infiltration – from top government officials’ close aides to active-duty military personnel – have sparked alarm over Beijing’s intensifying efforts to undermine Taiwan authorities from within, raising questions of public trust in the administration of William Lai Ching-te.

At least five people closely associated with senior DPP politicians are under investigation or have been detained for allegedly leaking classified information to mainland Chinese intelligence. Among them are aides to Taiwanese leader Lai and National Security Council secretary general Joseph Wu.

01:01

Donald Trump declines to say if US would defend Taiwan against mainland China attack

Donald Trump declines to say if US would defend Taiwan against mainland China attack

The high-level breaches have fuelled fears that Beijing’s decades-long efforts to cultivate spy networks in Taiwan are reaching new levels.

“The frequent surfacing of Chinese spy cases in Taiwan suggests that China’s espionage network here is watertight – they have developed a highly effective system to lure certain Taiwanese people to do the job,” said Huang Huei-hua, director of the Taiwan Global Talk think tank.

“Even top officials are now surrounded by suspected spies. It’s a sign that the DPP government has loosened its counter-intelligence screws.”

Beijing views Taiwan as part of China to be reunited, by force if necessary. Since Lai, of the DPP, took office as the island’s leader in May, tensions across the Taiwan Strait have worsened.

Share post:

Subscribe

Popular

More like this
Related

Belpre baseball falls to Southern | News, Sports, Jobs

<!-- SHOW ARTICLE --> Belpre's Chris Copen worked five innings...

Morgan Wallen Label Big Loud Sells Stake in Catalog for $200 Million

Big Loud, the Nashville record label that’s home to...

The Foundry to teach personal finance basics at free event

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – If you’re looking for help...