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SCMP Reporter

Taiwanese businessmen say they are caught in the middle and must co-operate with intelligence agents

Last week's announcement that seven Taiwanese businessmen had been arrested and accused of spying on the mainland shed light on  cross-strait espionage.

It is a cloak-and-dagger battle in which the 1.5 million Taiwanese living on the mainland are often  caught in the middle.

A Taiwanese businessman with several factories in Dongguan  says agents from both sides have tried  to cultivate intelligence sources among his peers.

The businessman said he had filed  reports to central government agents in the past 10 years, including analyses on Taiwan in  the 1996 and 2000 presidential elections.

'When the Ministry of State Security comes knocking, you don't say no,' said the businessman - who admits he has also answered questions from Taiwanese intelligence officers. 'In the past, upon returning to Taiwan, intelligence officials have approached me with queries.  I tell them what I know, but it's never a state secret, as I don't know any. Just like with mainland intelligence officials ...  it's best to answer.'

Businessmen have little choice but to co-operate in such a dangerous game.

Still, some say the men arrested  last week are only small players. Andrew Yang Nien-dzu,  secretary-general of the Taipei-based Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies and a  defence analyst, said the seven men were 'informants' at best. 'Taiwan does have spies in China, but these seven businessmen are not spies,' said Mr Yang.

Chen Ping,  a Shanghai-based Taiwanese investor,  said the arrests would be soon forgotten as 'yesterday's news'. 'This 'spy' incident won't affect the Taiwanese business community in China,' said Mr Chen, who owns restaurants in the Shanghai area. 'These seven brought the trouble upon themselves by becoming informants, but they are the exceptions.

'Most Taiwanese businessmen preoccupy themselves with matters at hand  ... but most - 99.9 per cent - do not spy.'

But it is hard to stay away from cross-strait politics.

Hsu Wen-lung,  chairman of Taiwan petrochemical giant Chi Mei Group,  found out the dangers of dabbling in politics the hard way. Mr Hsu helped President Chen Shui-bian  get elected in 2000 with  campaign donations. In exchange, he was named as one of President Chen's policy advisers.

Within weeks, central government tax auditors descended on six  of Mr Hsu's  plants on the mainland, asking probing tax-related questions that virtually shut down his operations.

Mr Hsu resigned from the policy job and sent executives to Beijing to explain his 'mistakes' in an act of contrition. Central government officials backed off and his company was back in business.



Cross-strait spying game traps pawns