Agent, former colleague detained for PRC spying

Lin Yu-nung, an agent from the Economic Crime Prevention and Control Center at the Ministry of Justice's IB (MJIB), was accused of having collected intelligence about Taiwan and the bureau's internal operations for China in exchange for money.

He was allegedly solicited to act as a spy for China by Chen Chih-kao, a former MJIB agent. The two had previously received training for intelligence and investigation work together.

Chen, 55, has been working as a businessman based in China after leaving the bureau in August 1997. His current jobs in Shanghai include publishing a magazine about business and traveling.

Lin, 54, and Chen were arrested Sunday at Brother Hotel in downtown Taipei where Lin was caught handing over files to Chen in return for a check in his name for US$3,000.

According to MJIB officials, Chen was recruited by Chinese security authorities in Shanghai and returned to Taiwan from time to time to collect information and intelligence.

Two years ago, Chen resumed contact with Lin and allegedly offered him lucrative cash rewards in exchange for intelligence.

The two have since met many times in Taipei, according to the MJIB officials.

The bureau began investigating the case in 2005 after being alerted by its agents of Chen's frequent questioning about sensitive information and his frequent meetings with his former classmate.

Bureau officials revealed that they had to constantly switched the team members to monitor the two persons' activities and tail them because both were experienced agents.

Prosecutors later took over the case and won approval from the Taipei District Court to place the two in custody for fearing of possible collusion in their statements.

Both men denied that they have been working as spies to gather Taiwan's state secrets for Beijing. They argued that they were only studying some of the bureau's internal data.

According to MJIB spokesman Ho Ming-chung, Lin gathered information on personnel appointments in MJIB and on MJIB's crackdown on economic crimes.

Lin agreed to work for Chen probably because he is in debt and needs money, Ho said.

Other MJIB officials told reporters they are still probing what and how much secrets have been passed to China so as to evaluate the level of possible impact.

MJIB officials expressed regrets that incumbent and former colleagues of the bureau have teamed up to work for China.

Authorities in Beijing and Taipei often accuse each other of sending spies to the other side to penetrate government agencies to gather intelligence or commit sabotage.

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