20120322 FEATURE: Espionage threats linger, despite closer China ties

FEATURE: Espionage threats linger, despite closer China ties

TARGET ACQUIRED: Recent cases of Chinese spying in Taiwan reveal that Beijing has its eyes on two systems integral to Taiwan’s defenses and built with US technology

AP, TAIWAN

When Taiwanese security personnel detained a suspected spy for China at a top secret military base last month, they might have had a sense of deja vu.

An air force captain surnamed Chiang (蔣) was the fourth Taiwanese in only 14 months known to have been picked up on charges of spying for China.

While the Ministry of National Defense did not disclose details of his alleged offense, his base in Taipei hosts highly classified radar system and US-made Patriot surface-to-air missiles, both vital for aerial defense.

Chiang’s arrest followed that of Major General Lo Hsieh-che (羅賢哲), who had access to crucial information on the nation’s US-designed command and control system, and civilian Lai Kun-chieh (賴坤玠), who the ministry says tried without success to inveigle Patriot-related secrets from an unnamed military officer. A fourth alleged spy was detained on non-defense-related charges.

The cases show that China is seeking information about two systems that are integral to Taiwan’s defenses and built with sensitive US technology. A major breach could make Taiwan more vulnerable to Chinese attack.

Information about the US-supplied defense systems could also help the People’s Liberation Army understand other US defenses.

However, Taiwanese officials say their systems are secure and US experts say the US’ secrets will remain protected in any case.

Still, the possibility that Taiwan might give up military secrets is certainly a worry for the US, its most important foreign partner. Any confirmed leak of US defense secrets from Taiwan to China could undermine Washington’s willingness to continue providing military equipment and technology to its ally.

“We are concerned whenever this type of incident occurs,” a US defense official said in an e-mail response. “However, Taiwan has taken aggressive steps in the last year to protect itself from intelligence threats.”

At the heart of the China’s Taiwan espionage efforts are two systems with substantial US technology — the Lockheed Martin and Raytheon-built Patriot missile defense system and the Lockheed-designed Po Sheng command and control system.

Defense expert Arthur Ding (丁樹範), from the Institute for International Relations at National Chengchi University, said successful penetration of the Patriot system could wreak havoc with Taiwan’s air defenses, a key component in turning back any future Chinese attack.

“China wants radar data so they can develop countermeasures,” he said. “If you have this data you can jam the system or redirect its missiles.”

Former deputy minister of national defense Lin Chong-pin (林中斌) said it was not surprising that China was targeting the Patriot and Po Sheng systems.

“These are several of our key capabilities which have been helped by the US,” he said. “They are the main obstacles to seizing Taiwan by force.”

Deputy Minister of National Defense Andrew Yang (楊念祖) said the Patriot and Po Sheng were “a critical Taiwanese asset.”

However, he said the systems had not been compromised.

Beijing’s biggest Po Sheng catch to date was almost certainly Lo, described by local media as the most effective Chinese spy in Taiwan since the 1960s.

Lo headed the army command’s communications and information office, and according to Taiwan’s defense ministry, he was recruited by the Chinese as a spy in 2004 when he was a military attache based overseas.

The ministry says Lo’s exposure to Po Sheng was limited. In July last year, he was sentenced to life in prison on espionage charges.

Like Lo, Chiang had access to sensitive military secrets. Local reports said he passed information about an early warning radar system through a Taiwanese businessman working in China.

Citing unidentified military sources, media described the system as a joint Taiwan-US air defense called “yellow net” that can track Chinese missiles launched at Taiwan.

The ministry has acknowledged that Chiang had worked at a ground command center in northern Taiwan, without elaborating on what he did there.

Two former US government officials familiar with US defense sales to Taiwan said that despite some Taiwanese media reports, China’s recent espionage activity does not threaten the integrity of US defense technology.

They said Washington withholds sensitive information and equips highly classified electronic components with anti-tamper devices.

Still, more than just US technology is at stake when Chinese spies target Taiwanese defense networks, one of the former officials said.

“How Po Sheng is used, the network layouts, what systems are integrated into the network and what are not, all this would be very useful for the Chinese to know,” he said.

This kind of knowledge — which would not necessarily compromise US technology — could help the Chinese pinpoint weaknesses in the nation’s overall defense alignment.

While insisting that China’s espionage efforts had not undermined Taiwan’s ability to defend itself, Yang said they showed that China has never let up on trying to steal the country’s most vital military secrets, despite President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) recent moves to try to lower tensions across the Taiwan Strait.