September 16, 2008:
China executed an army lieutenant during the
first week of September. The lieutenant was accused of contacting a Taiwanese
espionage official in early 2006. Later that year the lieutenant emailed 116
classified documents, and received $12,000 from the Taiwanese. Chinese
counterintelligence detected the transfer and ran down the officer. Apparently
some effort was made to use the arrested officer to infiltrate the Taiwanese
intel operation. For the last few years, China has been coming down hard on
Taiwanese espionage activities inside China, or even nearby. Three years ago,
Chinese agents kidnapped two Taiwanese in Vietnam, who were suspected of spying
on China. The two men were hustled back to China, where they remain. This has
not stopped the Taiwanese, who continue to create and run espionage networks
inside China.