Taiwan has reportedly arrested an alleged Chinese spy, the country's first such apprehension in in decades. Citizens in Taiwan are wondering if China might agree to a prisoner swap, as the country has held prisoner two Taiwanese Military Intelligence agents for more than 10 years.

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On January 16 this year, the prosecutors of Taipei, Taiwan's capital, has indicted Zhen Ziaojiang and five more Taiwanese who have been alleged of spying for the mainland. The five Taiwanese were identified as former Army Major General Hsu Nai-chuan, Air Force Lt. Col Chou Chih-li, Air Force official Yang Jung-hua, Air Force pilot Sung Chia-lu, and a Karaoke club owner named Lee Huan-yu.

Zhen is reportedly a captain and an intelligence officer in the People's Liberation Army in China. In 2005, Zhen has become a resident in Hong Kong then he flew to Taiwan for business and tourist trips. However, these trips are now allegedly called missions in order to recruit the military officers of Taiwan for the spying operation.

According to the statements from the prosecutor's office, Zhen recruited retired and active military personnel in order to develop an intelligence network. The network was successful in getting data about the Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter and other plans in order to gain information from Taiwan. Zhen reportedly paid the agents with US$9,400 and has bribed them with free trips to tourist spots in Southeast Asia.

According to the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee of the National Security Bureau, there have been 15 cases of Chinese espionage since the start of 2014 in Taiwan. 90 percent of these uncovered espionages involved an active or a retired military personnel.

China and Taiwan has established a bilateral economic and travel agreements since Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou was elected back in 2008. The morale of the military in Taiwan has then declined due to possible operations of spying with Chinese officials and that they have been selling important information about the military-related projects, arms and fighter jets in Taiwan. 

TagsTaiwan, spy, military personnel, active, retired