*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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Daily Links:

• Beijing, Manila, stand firm on South China Sea. Manila has a defense treaty with the US. Note that Taiwan has no defense treaty. Note further that Chen Shui-bian and those dastardly Taiwanese independence folk were repeatedly admonished for "provoking" China and threatening to drag the US into a war. Clearly provoking China must be a deep concern for the US. So I expect to hear that sound of the US admonishing Manila for "provoking" China, especially since the US is bound by treaty to go to war on Manila's behalf. Wait... I'm listening.... Yeah: crickets.... draw your own conclusions.
• Supply chains are tight and the global economy is fragile: a Japanese DRAM maker's bankruptcy could have repercussions for Taiwan firms.
• Media freedom continues to erode.
• Tsai Ing-wen hands off DPP to Chen Chu today.
• The camera trap revolution, with links to Smithsonian's cache of 200,000+ camera trap photos of wild animals.

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