[iwar] China Arrests 24 Taiwan 'Spies' as Tension Simmers

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=IBVRRN34A230ICRBAEZSFEY?
type=worldNews&storyID=4040472

China Arrests 24 Taiwan 'Spies' as Tension Simmers
Wed December 24, 2003 03:01 AM ET

(Page 1 of 2)
By Benjamin Kang Lim
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has arrested 24 "spies" from diplomatic foe Taiwan
and 19 mainland Chinese accomplices amid simmering tensions over plans by
the island for a referendum, a move that has riled Beijing and alarmed
Washington.

Analysts said China's rare and swift admission of the espionage scandal
could cast Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian as irresponsible and hurt his
March 2004 re-election bid.

Hong Kong's Ming Pao daily reported this week that Chinese authorities had
swooped on a spy ring after Chen made public, with pinpoint accuracy, the
location of Chinese missiles aimed at the island. Chen's spokesman has
defended the president, saying it was public information.

Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other since their split at the
end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway
province that must be brought back to the fold and has vowed to attack the
self-ruled democratic island of 23 million if it formally declares
independence.

"What these spies did may bring catastrophes and bitterness to the people of
Taiwan," China's official Xinhua news agency said Wednesday, quoting a state
security spokesman.

The Taiwan Defense Ministry's Military Intelligence Bureau earlier dismissed
the Hong Kong newspaper report, saying nobody had been arrested.

GRATITUDE?

Xinhua gave scant details of the alleged activities of those detained but
said they had confessed to their crimes and all had "expressed their
gratitude to the state security departments for the humanitarian treatment
they have received."

"The intelligence departments of Taiwan have never given up their attempts
to spy on the mainland," the spokesman said.

Xinhua said the spies had been interrogated "strictly in accordance with the
law," their rights were being protected, and they were being given daily
necessities and medical care.

"The spies are in good health," Xinhua said. The spokesman said the case was
being investigated further.

In the most notorious espionage scandal in China's Communist era, a major
general and a senior colonel were executed in 1999 for spying for Taiwan.
Taiwan analysts said the latest announcement could discredit Chen, who faces
a tough re-election battle and has pinned his hopes in part on a contentious
referendum calling on China to withdraw hundreds of missiles aimed at the
island.

"It gives the opposition camp ammunition to attack Chen," said a Taiwan
academic who spoke on condition of anonymity. China's policymaking Taiwan
Affairs Office has called top Taiwan businessmen in China to Beijing for a
closed-door emergency meeting Thursday, said Hsieh Kun-tsung, president of
the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce in the Chinese capital. The agenda of the
meeting was unknown.

"We've been here 10 to 20 years. We know if there's no evidence this side
will not arrest people," Hsieh told reporters.

He said the scandal was "very bad" for bilateral relations, but unlikely to
hurt the Taiwan business community in China, which numbers around one
million long-term residents alone.

"I think the mainland side is rational. It will go after whoever breaks the
law," Hsieh said.

Cross-strait tensions have been boiling since November, when Taiwan's
parliament passed a controversial law to permit referendums.

President Bush told Beijing this month the United States opposed any
unilateral decision by either China or Taiwan to change the status quo. It
was seen as a blunt warning to Chen not to go ahead with his planned
referendum.

Last week, Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu said Chinese missiles aimed at
the island were a form of "state terrorism," and she gave no sign that the
government was backing down from plans to hold the referendum on the missile
issue.

Taiwan says the referendum is not aimed at upsetting the status quo. But
China sees it as a step toward a declaration of independence.

Trade and tourism between China and Taiwan have blossomed since detente
began in the late 1980s, but are routed mostly through Hong Kong due to a
decades-old ban by the island on direct air and shipping links with the
mainland.

-- This communication is confidential to the parties it is intended to serve --
Fred Cohen - http://all.net/ - fc@all.net - fc@unhca.com - tel/fax: 925-454-0171
Fred Cohen & Associates - University of New Haven - Security Posture

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Received on Thu Dec 25 21:39:13 2003