By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

TAIPEI, Taiwan –

It was announced on Monday that Taiwan and China exchanged spies prior to a historic meeting between the two sides’ leaders in early November. Taiwanese media reports that this is the first occasion where the two sides traded spies.

Taiwan released a Chinese spy named Li Zhihao after he had been jailed for 16 years. He was granted early parole and was sent back to China.

China released Taiwanese military officials Chu Kung-hsun and Hsu Chang-kuo, who had been held for over nine years. The two men, officers in Taiwan’s Bureau of Military Intelligence, were arrested in Vietnam near the Vietnam-China border in 2006. They were given life sentences for harming the China’s national security. China later commuted their sentences to 20 years, according to Taiwan’s China Times newspaper. The two men were sent back to Taiwan following their release.

President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan and President Xi Jinping met in Singapore on November 7. The meeting was the first time in 60 years that leaders of both sides held a summit. While the two leaders did not come to any formal agreements during the summit, it represented a significant effort toward strengthened ties between Taiwan and China.

Taiwan’s presidential office has stated that the exchange was a sign of improved ties between the two sides. The Taiwanese presidential spokesman, Charles Chen, released a statement stating that the exchange was “based on a mutual goodwill gesture delivered by the Ma-Xi meeting” and that “President Ma Ying-jeou hopes cross-strait mutual exchanges can continue and make more concrete achievements in the future.”

Taiwan has been ruled separately from China since 1949, when the Nationalist party (or Kuomintang) fled to Taiwan after losing the Chinese civil war to the Communist party. China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and intends to reclaim Taiwan as part of mainland China.

Relations between the two sides were poor until President Ma took office in 2008. During his term, President Ma has acted amicably toward China, strengthening the two countries’ ties in tourism, transit, investment, and trade.

The strengthened ties between Taiwan and China have sparked concern among many Taiwanese, who are apprehensive about China’s growing influence over Taiwan.

 

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Taiwan Says it Has Swapped Convicted Spies With China – 30 November 2015

BBC – Taiwan and China Swapped Spies Ahead of Leaders’ Talks – 30 November 2015

The New York Times – Exchange of Spies With China Is Positive Sign, Taiwan Says – 30 November 2015

Reuters – Taiwan, China Swap Jailed Spies After Leaders’ Historic Meet – 30 November 2015