China cracks Taiwan 'spy ring'
By Willy Wo-Lap Lam CNN Senior China Analyst
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Relatives of the Taiwan men suspected of espionage ask for help during a press conference in Taipei.
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HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Psychological warfare between Taiwan and China has escalated as Beijing announced the arrest of 24 Taiwan "spies" in addition to 19 mainlanders involved in the cases, China's state media reported.
The spokesmen from the Ministry of State Security said such actions had "broken the law and seriously jeopardized the security and interests of the motherland."
The state media quoted the spokesmen as saying that Taipei had in recent years escalated its intelligence-gathering activities in mainland provinces.
The official Xinhua News Agency report did not identify those detained or say what sort of spying they allegedly conducted for Taiwan.
The report said the suspects had received humanitarian treatment, including provision of food and medical care.
Tit-for-tat games
Diplomatic analysts in Taiwan said while both Taipei and Beijing often engaged in tit-for-tat games regarding the expulsion or imprisonment of spies from either side, the recent haul was an indication of the escalating crisis over Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's perceived "creeping independence conspiracy."
Taiwan's Vice President Annette Lu dismissed the report as China's latest attempt to embarrass President Chen Shui-bian ahead of the March 20 presidential election, The Associated Press reports.
"Let's not believe in rumors. We all know that the Beijing authorities have all kinds of strategies for dealing with Taiwan and interfering with our elections," she said while campaigning. She repeated the Taiwanese government's position that the reports about the agents' arrests were false.
Cover blown
Earlier this week, Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper reported that Chen had blown the cover of 36 Taiwan spies in a speech last month in which he listed the locations of 496 missiles that were reportedly targeting Taiwan cities.
The newspaper reported on Tuesday that Beijing had arrested 21 Taiwanese and 15 Chinese nationals since mid-December.
Earlier this month, President Chen proposed holding a "defensive referendum" on Taiwan residents' views about the 496 Chinese missiles pointing at Taiwan cities.
Taiwan political analysts said some of the Taiwan "spies" located in Fujian had provided Taipei with the exact numbers -- as well as the makes and capacities -- of the different types of missiles arraigned against Taiwan.
Taipei's Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB), however, denied on Tuesday that Taiwan agents were involved in gathering information about the missiles.
According to veteran mainland-based Taiwan executives, apart from full time MIB agents, a small number of Taiwan businessmen often work part-time for Taipei's intelligence outfits to supplement their income.
