Taiwanese Amateur Spies Compensated By Taiwan Government For Imprisonment In China.doc Taiwanese Amateur Spies Compensated By Taiwan Government For Imprisonment In China.

By Daria Carmon

A common practice of the Taiwanese government during the 1980s and 1990s was the recruitment of businessmen to spy on China, so selected primarily because only business transactions conducted in China then would afford access to the mainland. These businessmen were enticed by the financial incentives offered by their government and swayed by patriotic considerations. However, they did not realize fully the risks inherent in their clandestine activities. Once caught, and many were, the arrestees were not entitled to consular intervention due to the absence of formal diplomatic relations between Taiwan and mainland China. Frequently, families of the accused operatives did not learn of their arrests for years afterwards. The exact number of civilian Taiwanese spies who are currently Chinese prisoners has not been disclosed, but it is thought to be roughly in the dozens.

Lin Yi-lin was one of the amateur spies, the proprietor of a tile-making business on mainland China at the time of his arrest, who served 14 years in prison – three of which were spent in solitary confinement. During Mr. Lin’s imprisonment, his marriage ended in divorce, the death of his father occurred, and there were the many years spent apart from his growing sons. Following his release in 2008, he brought suit in his homeland for restitution. An amendment passed by the Taiwanese legislature in 2010 authorized compensation payments to now imprisoned operatives as well as released ones like Lin.
The Supreme Administrative Court notified him in the beginning of May this year of his eligibility for compensation from his handlers in the Military Intelligence Bureau for his espionage work in the 1990s. Lin estimated the payment at approximately $630,000, factoring in the duration of his imprisonment.

Paradoxically, the Taiwanese government’s action regarding its own spies coincided with perhaps the highest point in relations between Taipei and Beijing since the split in 1949. Thus, spying on each other apparently continues unabated, as evidenced by the recent conviction of a Taiwanese general as a Chinese agent, with subsequent sentencing to life in prison. The reaction in Taiwan was of a people taken aback at the rank of the operative. Another life sentence was handed down in the case of a senior Taiwanese military intelligence official, Col. Lo Chi-cheng, found guilty of turning over the names of the Taiwanese agents on the mainland to the Chinese.