China – Taiwan – Nanping – Missile Bases – Military Intelligence

Refugee Review Tribunal

AUSTRALIA

RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE

Research Response Number: CHN17612 Country: China / Taiwan Date: 20 October 2005

Keywords: China – Taiwan – Nanping – Missile Bases – Military Intelligence

This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Questions 1. Is Nanping an important military centre due to the military tension around the Taiwan Strait? 2. Are there missile bases around Nanping? 3. In November 2003, did the Taiwanese President state that Taiwan intelligence knew detailed information about China’s missile bases? 4. Did this remark attract attention from the PRC government?

List of Sources Consulted

Internet Sources: International News & Politics Asia Media http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/ Asia Times http://www.atimes.com/ Taipei Times http://www.taipeitimes.com/ Space Daily http://www.spacedaily.com/ Region Specific Links TVSB http://www.tvbs.com.tw/tvbs_page/index/?type=main&cn=main Topic Specific Links Chinese Defence Today http://www.sinodefence.com/ Global Security http://www.globalsecurity.org/index.html PRC–ROC Air Power Monitor http://home.nycap.rr.com/mismedia/PRCROCmissile/index.htm Taiwan Security Research http://taiwansecurity.org/ University Sites US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/index.cfm Search Engines Google http://www.google.com.au/

UNHCR REFWORLD UNHCR Refugee Information Online

Databases: Public FACTIVA Reuters Business Briefing DIMIA BACIS Country Information REFINFO IRBDC Research Responses (Canada) RRT ISYS RRT Country Research database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. RRT Library FIRST RRT Library Catalogue

RESPONSE

1. Is Nanping an important military centre due to the military tension around the Taiwan Strait? 2. Are there missile bases around Nanping?

According to information posted on the Global Security website, Nanping is one of six theatre missile facilities in China and one of three bases which holds DF-15 [CSS-6] missiles (‘Theater Missile Facilities – China Nuclear Forces’ 2005, Global Security website, 28 April http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/china/theater-facility.htm – Accessed 18 October 2005 – Attachment 1).

According to information posted on the Global Security website, Nanping was one of two “missile firing positions that were used when the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fired DF- 15/M-9 [CSS-6] missiles into the sea off Taiwan during the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis” (‘Weapons of Mass Destruction – Nanping’ 2005, Global Security website, 28 April http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/china/nanping.htm – Accessed 18 October 2005 – Attachment 2).

A November 2003 report entitled Crisis Deterrence in the Taiwan Strait by US Army Chaplain Colonel Douglas McCready provides the following information on the 1995–1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis:

The underlying cause of the crisis was a new practice of Taiwan President Lee Tung-hui dubbed “vacation diplomacy.” Lee and other Taiwanese leaders informally visited countries Taiwan lacked diplomatic relations with in order to present Taiwan’s story and gain a public forum. …China responded by staging two series of missile tests in the sea off Taiwan’s two main ports during July and August 1995. …The United States and other major states showed little response although the test areas were less than 100 miles from the ports and put commercial shipping at risk.

…With Taiwan’s legislative elections scheduled for December 1995 and the first open presidential election the following March, China decided to use coercion to discourage Taiwanese voters from supporting pro-independence parties and candidates. The plan included more amphibious exercises in November followed in March by another series of missile tests and combined arms invasion exercises on a Chinese island similar to Taiwanese- held territory. The missile firings were close enough to Taiwan’s major ports to affect ship traffic and cause panic in Taipei’s financial markets. This time, the United States dispatched two carrier battle groups to the scene to ensure China didn’t attack Taiwan (McCready, Douglas 2003, Crisis Deterrence in the Taiwan Strait, November, US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute website, p.9 http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/00259.pdf – Accessed 18 October 2005 – Attachment 3).

According to the Chinese Defence Today website the 92nd Motorised Infantry Brigade is located in Nanping and part of the Nanjing Military Region whose mission is to “defend China’s east and southeast coast and to “prepare for the possible military operations in Taiwan” (‘Nanjing Military Region’ 2004, Chinese Defence Today website, 18 January http://www.sinodefence.com/army/orbat/nanjingmr.asp – Accessed 18 October 2005 – Attachment 4).

3. In November 2003, did the Taiwanese President state that Taiwan intelligence knew detailed information about China’s missile bases?

An article dated 26 February 2004 in The Asia Times reports that on 30 November 2003 Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian declared that China had 496 missiles aimed at Taiwan.

Taiwan has long had an excellent reputation for gathering intelligence on China’s activities. President Chen Shui-bian’s declaration on November 30 that China had exactly 496 missiles aimed at Taiwan is a good example. He cited the numbers as justification for the forthcoming referendum, asking voters whether China should redirect its missiles. What was staggering to most analysts was not the exact number, but Chen’s identification of the number of missiles per base.

Chen identified the number of operational short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) within 600 kilometers: Leping base (96) and Ganxian (96) in Jiangxi province; Meizhou (96) in Guangdong province; and Yongan (144) and Xianyou (64) in Fujian province. Chen’s office later pointed out that intelligence reports indicated that none of China’s cruise missiles were available on the bases and that none of the missiles aimed at Taiwan were armed with nuclear warheads. The missiles were identified as four types of SRBM: DF-11 (M-11) DF-11A (Mod 2), DF-15 (M-9) and a DF-15 variant (Minnick, Wendy 2004, ‘The Men in Black: How Taiwan spies on China’, Asia Times, 26 February http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/FB26Ad05.html – Accessed 18 October 2005 – Attachment 5).

4. Did this remark attract attention from the PRC government?

China reacted to the 30 November 2003 declaration by arresting a number of Taiwanese and Chinese citizens and charging them with espionage.

An article dated 25 December 2003 in The Washington Post reports that China has arrested 24 Taiwanese and 19 Chinese citizens on charges of espionage:

A Hong Kong newspaper, the Ming Pao Daily, which Chinese officials use to leak information, reported the arrests Monday and quoted sources as saying Taiwanese spies were exposed after Chen specified in a Nov. 30 speech the location of Chinese military bases with 496 missiles aimed at Taiwan (Pan, Philip P. 2003, ‘China Arrests 43 Alleged Spies; Move Increases Effort to Undermine Taiwanese President’, The Washington Post, 25 December – Attachment 6).

An article dated 14 January 2004 by Reuters reports that China has named seven of the 24 Taiwanese “spies” whose cases have been handed over to the courts:

Li Weiyi, spokesman for the cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office, identified the people arrested as Fu Hung-chang, Lin Chieh-shan, Sung Hsiao-lien, Wang Chang-yung, Chang Keng-huan and Chang Yu-jen, who worked for Taiwan’s intelligence agency.

“Last year on December 15 the related organs in (the provinces of) Guangdong, Fujian, Anhui and Hainan detained them for investigation,” Li told a news conference.

A seventh person, Tung Tai-ping, was caught by security guards while collecting intelligence at a shipmaking facility in the southern province of Guangdong on December 4, Li said.

“The seven people just mentioned are spies sent over by Taiwan’s military intelligence agency charged with the task of collecting intelligence,” he said (‘China names seven Taiwan “spies” caught in December’ 2004, Reuters, 15 January – Attachment 7).

An article dated 17 January 2004 by Associated Press reports that China displayed a group of suspected spies before reporters in Guangzhou, Anhui, Fujian and Hainan:

“Chen Shui-bian is really a bad guy,” one detainee, Fu Hung-chang, told reporters at a detention center in Guangzhou, China’s southern business capital near Hong Kong. “He used us and then abandoned us.”

…Footage of the suspects was splashed across Taiwanese television as some broke down in tears and apologized.

…China denied it was trying to sway public opinion.

“These activities today were arranged not for the government’s benefit, but to meet the requests of Taiwanese and Hong Kong journalists,” said a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing. He would give only his surname, Yang.

... “I want the Taiwan authorities to take responsibility for me,” said Tung Tai-ping, who described the Chinese government as “magnanimous.”

…In Fujian, two detained Taiwanese businessmen told Taiwan cable television stations Friday that they agreed to spy for Taiwan for $1,185 a month after their mainland businesses began to fail.

A teary-eyed Wang Chang-yung said Chen’s government had duped him and doesn’t care whether he lives or dies, adding that “right now, I really hate Chen Shui-bian” (McDonald, Joe 2004, ‘China Puts Suspected Spies Before Media’, Associated Press, 17 January – Attachment 8).

An article dated 15 July 2004 by Associated Press reports that Sung Hsiao-lien, one of the seven Taiwanese citizens who were arrested in December 2003, was sentenced by a court in Hainan to four years in prison:

Song Xiaolian was convicted by a court on the southern island of Hainan of receiving money from Taiwan’s military spy agency and providing information on unspecified “military conditions,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Hainan, in the South China Sea, is the site of numerous military bases.

Song was among seven Taiwanese detained late last year and charged in January with spying. China says all seven confessed, but it has released few details of their cases. The status of the others wasn’t announced Thursday.

…Song, whose name also is spelled Sung Hsiao-lien, received 20,000 New Taiwan dollars (US$600) from Taiwanese military intelligence, Xinhua said.

He was recruited by a Taiwanese surnamed Tong with ties to Taiwan's military spy agency, Xinhua said. Chinese officials earlier identified one of those detained with Song as Tong Taiping, who it said was caught gathering military information at a shipyard in the southern city of Guangzhou (McDonald, Joe 2004, ‘China jails Taiwanese man for four years on spying charges’, Associated Press, 15 July – Attachment 9).

An article dated 18 January 2004 in The Taipei Times reports on China’s interrogation and detention of Taiwanese businesspeople:

Straits Exchange Foundation Secretary-General Shi Hwei-yow said yesterday that China is interrogating hundreds of Taiwanese businesspeople based in “sensitive areas,” including places near Chinese military bases.

China’s interrogation and detention of the businesspeople before it obtained proper evidence of the men’s alleged crimes were detrimental to the men’s human rights, Shi said.

Shi, however, declined to confirm whether China’s large-scale crackdown on the suspect Taiwanese intelligence-gathering operations in China had started after President Chen Shui- bian unveiled the locations of China’s 496 missiles pointing at Taiwan (Chen, Melody 2004, ‘China interrogates more businesspeople, SEF says; CRACKDOWN: Chinese officals are allegedly targetting hundreds of Taiwanese businesspeople following the arrest of eight businessmen on charges of spying’, Taipei Times, 18 January – Attachment 10).

An article dated 7 February 2004 in The Taipei Times reports that the Chinese authorities have broken up a spy ring consisting of Colonel Li Yun-fu of the Military Intelligence Bureau, Li’s nephew Kao Kuo-ning and Wu Che-ming:

The trio were said by the newspaper to have been rounded up recently by Chinese authorities. They were alleged to have collected information on the deployment of ballistic missiles targeted at Taiwan and the status of fighting ships with the East China Sea fleet.

…The report claimed Li had contributed a lot of the information that President Chen Shui- bian recently made public regarding the number and deployment sites of short-range ballistic missiles in Fujian and Jiangxi provinces aimed at Taiwan (Hsu, Brian 2004, ‘Military refuses comment on latest ‘spy’ round-up’, Taipei Times, 7 February – Attachment 11).

An article dated 13 May 2004 by Agence France Presse reports that Major General Liu Guangzhi, Commandant of China’s Air Force Command Academy and another Academy Officer were sentenced to death on charges of spying for Taiwan. They were reportedly in the same spy ring as Colonel Li Yun-fu of the Military Intelligence Bureau, Li’s nephew Kao Kuo-ning and Wu Che-ming:

Heavy punishments have also been handed down to at least 20 other military officers implicated in the case, it said, citing sources in Beijing.

…The daily [United Daily News] said the spy ring was busted in March following the seizure of Taiwan Military Intelligence Bureau Colonel Li Yun-pu, his nephew Kao Kuo-ning, colleague Wu Tse-ming and many others on the mainland.

Operating in the guise of a business executive with a technology firm, Li had infiltrated Chinese military units and recruited a number of officers, it added.

The spy network, centered on east China’s Nanjing military region, covered targets such as the East Sea Fleet in Ningpo and Leping missile base in Jiangxi province which supervises missile bases facing Taiwan (‘Two Chinese officers sentenced to death for spying for Taiwan: report’ 2004, Agence France Presse, 13 May – Attachment 12).

An article dated 13 February 2004 by Reuters reports that China has detained Chang Hsu- min, a Taiwanese man and his girlfriend, Yu Shih-ping for espionage:

Chang Hsu-min, 27, and Yu Shih-ping, 24, described as agents of Taiwan’s Military Intelligence Bureau, were detained in January for collecting missile intelligence in the southeastern province of Fujian, the Global Times said on Friday.

“The intelligence network of Taiwan’s Military Intelligence Bureau in Fujian has been totally smashed,” said the newspaper, a tabloid owned by the People’s Daily, mouthpiece of the Communist Party. It published pictures of the pair with their eyes blacked out.

…Chang and Yu, employees of a Taiwan travel agency, were the youngest among the three groups of alleged Taiwan spies rounded up in China after Chen revealed the number of Chinese missiles aimed at the island (‘China detains 2 more alleged Taiwan spies-newspaper’ 2004, Reuters, 13 February – Attachment 13).

List of Attachments

1. ‘Theater Missile Facilities – China Nuclear Forces’ 2005, Global Security website, 28 April. (http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/china/theater-facility.htm – Accessed 18 October 2005)

2. ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction – Nanping’ 2005, Global Security website, 28 April. (http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/china/nanping.htm – Accessed 18 October 2005)

3. McCready, Douglas 2003, Crisis Deterrence in the Taiwan Strait, November, US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute website. (http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/00259.pdf – Accessed 18 October)

4. ‘Nanjing Military Region’ 2004, Chinese Defence Today website, 18 January. (http://www.sinodefence.com/army/orbat/nanjingmr.asp – Accessed 18 October 2005)

5. Minnick, Wendy 2004, ‘The Men in Black: How Taiwan spies on China’, Asia Times, 26 February. (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/FB26Ad05.html – Accessed 18 October 2005)

6. Pan, Philip P. 2003, ‘China Arrests 43 Alleged Spies; Move Increases Effort to Undermine Taiwanese President’, The Washington Post, 25 December.

7. ‘China names seven Taiwan “spies” caught in December’ 2004, Reuters, 15 January.

8. McDonald, Joe 2004, ‘China Puts Suspected Spies Before Media’, Associated Press, 17 January.

9. McDonald, Joe 2004, ‘China jails Taiwanese man for four years on spying charges’, Associated Press, 15 July.

10. Chen, Melody 2004, ‘China interrogates more businesspeople, SEF says; CRACKDOWN: Chinese officials are allegedly targeting hundreds of Taiwanese businesspeople following the arrest of eight businessmen on charges of spying’, Taipei Times, 18 January.

11. Hsu, Brian 2004, ‘Military refuses comment on latest ‘spy’ round-up’, Taipei Times, 7 February.

12. ‘Two Chinese officers sentenced to death for spying for Taiwan: report’ 2004, Agence France Presse, 13 May.

13. ‘China detains 2 more alleged Taiwan spies-newspaper’ 2004, Reuters, 13 February.