CCP official ‘honeybaited’ by Taiwan: cable

News that former Chinese officials may have been seduced by an alleged Taiwanese spy come amid reports that China has been opening a series of ‘spy schools’ on university campuses

When Chinese authorities announced that former Chinese minister of finance Jin Renqing (金人慶) was stepping down in August 2007, they claimed he was doing so for “personal reasons.” According to a series of classified US diplomatic cables recently released by Wiki-Leaks, the real reason behind Jin’s resignation was his romantic involvement with a woman who was linked to several other prominent Chinese officials.

That woman [I have just learned she is being referred to as “Li Wei, 李薇”], it is alleged, was a Taiwanese intelligence operative.

One of the cables, sent by the US consulate in Shanghai and dated Sept. 7, 2007, described how some members of the top echelons of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would pass mistresses around and how one woman — described by a US official as “a promiscuous socialite” — had been involved romantically with at least three of them.

Aside from Jin, former Sinopec Corp (中國石化) chairman Chen Tonghai (陳同海) and former Chinese minister of agriculture Du Qinglin (杜青林) were suspected of ties with the woman.

My article, published today in the Taipei Times, continues here.


Note: It is said of “李薇” (whom reports say could also be one “Li Jie, 李姐”) that though she was not a “stunning beauty,” she had good conversation manners and used gentle words, “with gentle femininity.” Described as low-key, when major decisions needed to be made, she could “stroke the table to set the tone,” and was “vigorous and resolute.”