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SEF MUM ON BEIJING'S LETTER REGARDING TAIWAN SPY ARRESTS

2004-01-14 15:18:12

    Taipei, Jan. 14 (CNA) Officials from the quasi-official intermediary Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) on Wednesday declined to comment on reports regarding the arrests of seven Taiwan citizens by mainland Chinese authorities last month on charges of espionage.

    SEF officials confirmed Wednesday, however, that the foundation has received a letter regarding the arrests from its Beijing counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) , and that the SEF is working to verify whether the arrests are authentic.

    The SEF will give a public explanation on the matter after it finishes its verification work, the officials said.

    The SEF and the ARATS were authorized by Taiwan and mainland Chinese authorities, respectively, more than a decade ago to handle exchanges across the Taiwan Strait in the absence of formal ties between the two sides.

    The ARATS letter said that seven "Taiwan residents" were arrested between Dec. 4 and Dec. 15 in mainland China on suspicions of spying.

    According to a report Wednesday by the Beijing-based China News Service, Taiwan citizens Fu Hung-chang, Lin Chieh-shan, Lee Hsiao-lien, Wang Chang-yung, Chang Keng-huan and Chang yu-jen were apprehended last Dec. 15 in Guangdong, Fujian, Anhui and Hainan provinces, respectively, on suspicions of gathering intelligence for Taiwan's military authorities.

    A seventh Taiwan citizen, Tung Tai-ping, was nabbed last Dec. 4 while allegedly collecting intelligence at the Huangpu Shipbuilding Co. in Guangzhou, the report said.

    The ARATS claimed that all seven men were "cells" dispatched by Taiwan's Military Intelligence Bureau. All of them, currently being detained for questioning, are in good health, the report said.

    In related news, Beijing's official Xinhua News Agency reported Dec. 24 that mainland security authorities had arrested 24 Taiwanese and 19 mainland Chinese on charges of spying for Taiwan.

    Commenting on that report, an Executive Yuan spokesman said the same day that the report was just a mainland ploy to undermine President Chen Shui-bian's re-election bid. "The mainland authorities will make every possible effort to sway Taiwan voters ahead of the island's March 20 presidential election, " the spokesman said.

(By Deborah Kuo)

ENDITEM/Li