• Military
• WMD

• Intelligence Menu               

• Systems
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Imagery
• Links

• Homeland Security
• Space

MAC INSISTS NO TAIWAN BUSINESSMAN SPYING IN MAINLAND CHINA

2004-01-16 21:44:15

    Taipei, Jan. 16 (CNA) The Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) insisted Friday that no Taiwan businessmen operating in mainland China have been spying, contradicting claims by Beijing.

    The MAC, which charts Taiwan's policy toward the mainland, made the remarks after the mainland authorities arranged for two alleged Taiwan spies detained in Fujian Province to be interviewed by Taiwan journalists. The two men who faced the press in Fuzhou were identified as Chang Keng-heng and Wang Chang-yung.

    The MAC said the mainland's unilateral announcement of the businessmen's alleged crimes and its arrangement for the Taiwan media to badger them before the judicial process has been carried out have not only violated normal judicial rules but have also seriously infringed upon the human rights of Republic of China citizens.

    The MAC said it wants to express its gravest concern about the mainland's human rights abuse against ROC citizens.

    Quoting tallies by Taiwan's quasi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) , the MAC said more than 130 Taiwan businessmen operating on the mainland have been reported missing over the past decade.

    Despite the SEF's repeated requests for mainland assistance in locating them, the MAC said, the mainland authorities have never made any active response to the requests.

    In contrast, the MAC said, mainland authorities, including its quasi-official Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) , have been quick to take the initiative in reporting its arrest of eight Taiwan businessmen in the past few weeks on espionage charges. "We believe that Beijing's handling of the case, including the timing of the announcement of the arrests and the arrangement for media interviews of the two alleged spies, was politically motivated to serve as a ploy to affect Taiwan's internal political development and its upcoming presidential election, " the MAC said in a press statement.

    With a view to protecting the legitimate rights of Taiwan people, the MAC said it has asked the SEF to contact its mainland counterpart -- ARTAS -- for negotiations about the release of the detained businessmen.

    The MAC said the SEF will send personnel to the mainland to visit the men and it urged ARATS to offer necessary help for the SEF visit.

    Earlier in the day, the SEF faxed a message to ARATS saying that the mainland's disclosure of the identities and personal resumes of the seven detained Taiwan businessmen before due trial has infringed upon their privacy and basic human rights and has caused serious troubles for their families in Taiwan. The seven were among a group of 24 people from Taiwan whom Beijing announced it had caught in December for spying.

    Quoting remarks by their families, the SEF said, none of the detained Taiwan people have ever engaged in espionage for Taiwan on mainland territory. "We hope the mainland authorities will probe the truth as soon as possible in order to clear their reputations, " the SEF statement said.

    The SEF also asked the mainland authorities to ensure the legitimate rights of the detainees and to respect their families visiting and correspondence rights.

    The SEF and the ARATS are quasi-official intermediary bodies authorized by their respective governments to handle cross-strait exchanges in the absence of official ties.

(By Sofia Wu)

ENDITEM/J