Wednesday, February 29, 2012

*Another* Taiwan Officer Arrested in Spy Case

A friend forwarded this WSJ column to me with the comment that this has a negative impact on the US willingness to sell Taiwan advanced arms....
A spokesman for Taiwan’s defense ministry confirmed local media reports on Wednesday that a Taiwanese Air Force caption surnamed Chiang was arrested on allegations of selling classified information to China.

But the spokesman, David Lo, disputed a report in the publication Next Magazine , which quoted unnamed sources, that the damage was considerable. “The situation is not as serious and dramatic as reported by the media,” he said, adding “the defense ministry has already undertaken ample damage control by tightening up the information flow.”

The arrest is the latest in a slew of information leak cases in recent years, one that has raised concerns in the island over the People’s Liberation Army.
And these are the cases that we know about. In numerous articles and private discussions I have had, this same theme sounds forth -- any technology the US gives to Taiwan is simply pipelined directly to China. AFP gives additional details:
A Taiwanese air force captain at a radar command and control centre has been arrested for allegedly leaking classified data to China, officials and media said on Wednesday.

...

It said the Chinese military has long sought access to the centre which houses highly sensitive information including details on the air force's "Strong Net" radar system and the US-made Patriot surface-to-air missiles.

.....

But Chen Chen-hsiang, a former general who is now a legislator in the ruling Kuomintang party, said he was "shocked" at the news.

"The unit is supposed to be highly confidential," he said.

Next Magazine cited a military source warning: "Should the air force captain leak electronic factors of the various radar systems to China, the damages from the case would go beyond imagination".
According to the AFP report, the information traveled through his uncle to Chinese authorities.
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8 comments:

Danke Schoen said...

Looks like it's time to start learning simplified Chinese characters.

Readin said...

The KMT has made it very clear that they want Taiwan to be annexed by China, and that they want to expand business ties with China to make progress toward that goal. The KMT won the recent elections in a landslide.

It seems to me that this air force captain was just carrying out the will of the people.

Danke Schoen said...

I'm not sure 51% of the popular vote counts as a "landslide" victory. Besides most of the people who voted for MA were voting for the status quo not for the KMT in particular.

Robert R. said...

Agreed that 51% is not a landslide, but considering that the KMT were in power the last 4 years, it's hard to say that a vote for the status quo (by voting for Ma) is not a vote for the KMT.

richard said...

wouldn't this be a nicely fitting excuse to make it easier for the US to cut one day arms sales?
maybe one part of a bigger masterplan?

Readin said...

Besides most of the people who voted for MA were voting for the status quo not for the KMT in particular.

Ma and the KMT have been changing the status quo and running on a platform of changing the status quo. This was clear to the people and they didn't pull a lever labeled "status quo", they pulled a lever labeled "Ma (KMT)"

The Taiwanese can no more dodge responsibility for this than Americans can dodge responsibility trillions of dollars of new debt we created since voting for a presidential candidate whose platform consisted almost entirely of promises to spend money we don't have. (This is different from the previous decade where Americans voted for candidates who promised to reduce spending but then did the opposite once in office.)

Anonymous said...

"It seems to me that this air force captain was just carrying out the will of the people."

so this didn't happen under Chen, right?

LOL.

distantdrummer said...

The Taiwanese seem to be doing exceptionally well for a country of that small size. They are pursuing technological advancements, environmental protections, a high standard of education, respect for human rights and are not involved in wars! We here in the USA need to see this as the direction we need to go. I want that and Peace.www.bush-it-usa.com