Taiwan accuses former agent of helping China spy on Falun Gong, Hong Kong lawmakers
| September 15, 2004 |
| By asianews/Yahoo.com |
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Taiwan has arrested a former military intelligence agent, accusing him of helping rival China spy on pro-Taiwan Hong Kong legislators and members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, officials said Wednesday.
The suspect, Liao Hsien-ping, once worked as a Taiwanese agent in the Philippines, the Investigation Bureau said. Chinese spies allegedly recruited him after he left the intelligence agency and was working as a foreign labor broker in Manila in the 1990s, the bureau said. Liao, 60, returned to Taiwan and allegedly posed as a taxi driver and journalist while collecting information about Falun Gong members with connections to Taiwan, China and the United States, the bureau said. China banned the spiritual movement in 1999, calling it a deadly cult. “To gather information on the group, Liao joined local Falun Gong chapters and even posed as a radio reporter to collect details about the group’s activities,” a bureau statement said. Liao also allegedly monitored the movements of visiting Hong Kong lawmakers sympathetic to Taiwan, the bureau said. Newspapers quoted investigators as saying that one of his targets was legislator Emily Lau, a fierce critic of China. The suspect did not immediately comment on his arrest. Liao allegedly frequently passed on information to Chinese agents by telephone, e-mail or trips to Hong Kong and Macau, the bureau said. China allegedly paid Liao about 1.7 million New Taiwan dollars (US$50,295; euro 40,963) since 2000, it said. Taiwan and China frequently announce the arrests of alleged spies. The rivals have been ruled separately since the Communists won a civil war and took over China in 1949. Beijing insists that the democratic island of Taiwan must eventually accept Communist rule, and has threatened force to unify the two sides. |