Chinese police and state security authorities have cracked a
Taiwanese spy ring gathering information on the mainland missile
bases and naval installations, a Taiwan newspaper said Friday.
Taiwan's "defense minister" declined to comment on the report,
saying it doesn't comment on intelligence work for security
reasons.
The mass-circulation United Daily News quoted unnamed
"reliable sources" as saying that the Chinese mainland had arrested
three people spying for Taiwan's military intelligence bureau.
One of the men, spy ring chief Col. Li Yun-pu, was working for a
technology firm in the east Chinese city of Nanjing while
collecting information on the military bases, the newspaper
said.
However, in a second story, the newspaper appeared to cast some
doubt on its main report. The daily quoted Li's wife as saying her
husband had retired from the military last year and had called her
from Japan earlier this week to say he would return to Taiwan
soon.
Taiwan's "defense minister" Tang Yiau-ming told reporters that
he would not comment on the reports. "To protect the security of
such people, we do not make any comment at all, and we hope our
compatriots can support us (on this)," he said.
Taiwan's other news media also reported the spy ring, saying the
spies detained have been handed over to judicial departments for
prosecution.
(China Daily February 7, 2004)