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Stop spying, sabotage activities against mainland: China to Taiwan

Monday, 17 September 2018 5:57 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 17 September 2018 6:13 AM ]

The file photo shows two Chinese university students watching military guards in Taipei, Taiwan.

Beijing says Taiwan has “significantly increased” its spying activities against mainland China, calling on the self-ruled island to swiftly stop such “infiltration” and “sabotage” attempts.

An Fengshan, a spokesman for China’s policy-making Taiwan Affairs Office, said Beijing has launched an operation against the Taiwanese institutions it believes are behind intelligence theft as well as “infiltration and sabotage activities” targeting the mainland.

“Taiwan authorities must avoid any further damage to the increasingly complicated and intense cross-Strait relations,” the official added.

The warning to Taipei came after China’s security authorities said spy agencies in Taiwan “have been trying to incite and win over people in their efforts to build spy networks, jeopardizing the peaceful development of the cross-Strait relations and national security interests.”

According to Chinese media, Taiwanese spy agencies have especially been seeking to obtain confidential data about the mainland by luring the Chinese students studying on the island, which China views as a wayward province.

China’s state TV has also begun airing a series of programs detailing cases of the students approached by Taiwan’s domestic spies.

According to Chinese security officials, those students usually major in politics, economics, science or military technology and are targeted due to their potential access to key information.

A report by China Central Television said more than 100 Taiwan-related spy cases have been addressed during the security operation code-named 2018 Thunder.

Taiwan, China quarrel over arrest in ‘spying’ case

China says Taiwan seeks to provoke tensions with the arrest of a Chinese national. Taiwan says China does not understand its judicial system.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, however, rejected China’s allegations in a statement at the weekend.

“The Mainland Affairs Council asks the mainland authorities not to politically manipulate mainland students studying in Taiwan and frame our personnel for engaging in espionage,” it said.

Such a move would “further raise suspicion and misunderstanding across the strait,” it added.

Chinese students have been allowed to study in Taiwan’s universities since 2009.

China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, which should eventually be reunited with the mainland under the “One China” policy. Almost all world states respect China’s sovereignty over Taiwan.

Ties between Beijing and Taipei have significantly soured since the inauguration in 2016 of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who has refused to honor the “One China” policy.

The two sides have repeatedly exchanged espionage accusations over the past years.

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