MIB told to stop sending agents to China

Taiwanese soldiers stand on guard

The National Security Bureau has also reportedly been instructed to draw down operations abroad

Officers from the Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) will no longer be sent “behind enemy lines” in China to collect intelligence, sources are saying, which, if true, could undermine Taiwan’s ability to understand developments in China.

Citing unnamed sources in intelligence circles, the Chinese-language China Times reported last week that under new directives issued to the military spy agency, the bureau would no longer be allowed to send its agents to China or direct Taiwanese businesspeople based there to collect classified information or develop spy networks. 

According to the article, the MIB will be barred from breaking laws and regulations in China and will limit itself to using networks that are already in place to collect information from open sources such as journals, books, newspapers and academic papers. 

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