TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former Military Intelligence Bureau Director Liu Te-liang (劉德良) said the number of Chinese spies in Taiwan is likely higher than the previous estimate of 5,000.
China has been ramping up its United Front efforts toward Taiwan, with a string of recent espionage cases bringing the issue into the spotlight. Liu told China Times that national security agencies had assessed years ago that approximately 5,000 Chinese spies were operating in Taiwan.
Given the current state of cross-strait relations, Liu believes that the actual number of infiltrated enemy agents is higher. He warned that if these spies are embedded in government bodies, political parties, think tanks, or corporations, especially in areas targeted by China, they would pose a large threat.
Liu said it typically takes two to three years to gather sufficient evidence in Chinese espionage cases. He said the successful cracking of recent spy cases is a positive sign, indicating that national security agencies possess counterintelligence capabilities
He believes cross-strait intelligence operations cannot focus solely on "intelligence" and neglect “counterintelligence.” He said that manpower and the budget should be expanded.
Liu emphasized the need for the government, all political parties, elected representatives, and the media to provide greater support to the national security system.
Now a lecturer on national security and cross-strait relations at National Chengchi University, National Defense University, and the National Security Bureau, Liu has consistently claimed that the number exceeds 5,000. Past assessments by security agencies have echoed this figure.
In 1999, then-National Security Bureau Director Ting Yu-chou (丁渝洲) told the Legislative Yuan that around 2,000 Chinese nationals, both legal and illegal entrants, were active in Taiwan. Later, former NSB Directors Sung Hsin-lien (宋心濂) and Yin Tsung-wen (殷宗文) both publicly estimated that 5,000 Chinese agents were covertly operating in Taiwan.
The report also cites former Deputy Minister of National Defense Lin Chong-pin (林中斌), who publicly said that the number of Chinese spies in Taiwan likely exceeds 5,000. Based on his personal experience attending meetings at the Presidential Office and Mainland Affairs Council, he observed that classified information would often leak shortly after such meetings, leading him to believe there were more Chinese spies embedded in Taiwan.
Lin estimated that during President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration, the number was already around 5,000. However, former NSB Secretary-General Wang Hsi-tien (王西田) said in a 2007 legislative hearing that the 5,000 figure were not necessarily Chinese spies but individuals who had illegally entered Taiwan over the years and evaded detection.
A retired senior intelligence official told the China Times that illegal immigrants and Chinese spies should not be conflated. The former official claimed that the CCP rarely sends actual spies to Taiwan.
Instead, the source said the Chinese spies operate from third countries, where they assign recruited individuals missions. For example, in the espionage case involving former Army Major General Lo Hsien-che (羅賢哲), all of Lo’s contacts with Chinese intelligence officers took place in Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
