The Taiwanese now want to increase the sentences for military espionage from 4 years to the death penalty or life imprisonment, and also subject them to military jurisdiction. The Taipeh Times reports:

“EDITORIAL: Close the door on spies

Lawmakers and a researcher on Tuesday called for military trials to be reinstated during peacetime to help deter espionage in the military after an army colonel was charged with spying for China.

Hsiang Te-en (向德恩) was charged with corruption, pledging allegiance to China and receiving payment from Chinese operatives to work as a spy.

Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the Institute of National Defense and Security Research, said that military espionage poses a serious threat to national security, and reinstating military trials during peacetime for active personnel would improve troop discipline and deter spying.

Hsiang is only the latest in a spate of espionage cases targeting Taiwan’s military. In January, three members of the New Party were charged with espionage for allegedly receiving Chinese funding. In June, former Naval Education, Training and Doctrine Command General Division commander Chang Pei-ning (張培凝) was sentenced to nearly four years in prison on espionage-related charges.

It is often said that Taiwanese found guilty of spying for China get off far more leniently than their counterparts in China would for the same offenses. Four years in prison would hardly serve as a deterrent for someone who faces the possibility of enriching themselves substantially by cooperating with the Chinese Communist Party. Convicted spies would also likely face a hero’s welcome if they moved to China after being released from a Taiwanese prison.

Reinstating military trials would be a more effective deterrent, as Article 17 of the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法) says that a person convicted of “committing an act of espionage for an enemy or rendering aid to an enemy’s spy” is subject to a punishment of “death or imprisonment for life.”

Of course, the effectiveness of this deterrent depends on the military’s resolve to enforce it with a heavy hand, and the degree to which corruption has already infiltrated the military.

If lawmakers do not allow the military to deal with its own traitors, then they should amend civilian laws to increase the penalties for spying for China. Politicians and armed forces personnel should have restrictions imposed on them upon assuming duty. For example, it should be expected that all military personnel with authority over subordinates or access to sensitive information, as well as politicians and government personnel, should be prohibited from receiving funds sourced in China, or from traveling to China for five years after leaving their post.

National security concerns trump personal privacy, and such personnel should accept that their banking activities and communications would be monitored to ensure adherence with regulations.

There should be no confusion that China is a military threat and a national security concern, so no public employee or military official has a justifiable reason to have contact with entities in China. Given the opportunity, China would immediately occupy Taiwan, dismantle its democratic institutions and impose limitations on speech, media and personal freedoms. That is why it is imperative that convicted traitors be dealt with severely and without impunity.

China and Russia are known for turning a nation’s democracy against itself. Chinese agents occupy spaces of discourse to sow confusion and discontent, infiltrate protests to intimidate and silence rights advocates, and use political freedoms to develop parties that seek to undermine social stability by sowing confusion and conflating facts.

They take advantage of the comparatively lenient judicial systems that typify democracies. This is why lawmakers must close loopholes and cut off Chinese access to people in Taiwan’s democratic institutions.

Laws must be amended to close the door on Chinese espionage and infiltration.“

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2022/11/26/2003789614

How is this actually handled in China and other Asian countries? I think the Espionage Act still applies in the USA, as can be seen in the cases of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. But I’m not sure what that entails exactly. Chelsea Manning got off very lightly and was even on a ZDF talk show recently, while the US Republicans are demanding the death penalty for Julian Assange, who is not even a US citizen, and for Edward Snowden. Or did Manning get a transgender bonus? And how is it actually in Germany? You don’t hear much there either. The SPIEGEL affair was a borderline case between treason and military espionage and is probably the most famous case to date. At the time, SPIEGEL had published documents of a NATO maneuver under the programmatic headline “ Not really ready for defense” (Bedingt Abwehrbereit)  also at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was interpreted as an invitation to the Soviet Union to invade Germany given the alleged weakness of NATO. Whether that was really so dangerous, whether these were real secrets were remains an open question. Allegedly, Strauss’s advisor, General Schmückle, had already openly divulged similar details in „Christ und Welt“. Incidentally, the public prosecutor investigating Augstein and Ahlers was Buback, who then had to release both of them after being held in custody. Last week, a Bundeswehr officer was convicted of spying for Russia. But apparently only for 5 years. But it probably also depends on the extent of the secret betrayal.

 In any case, this is now being taken very seriously in Taiwan, because in the event of war and crises, the Chinese Communist Party could use these moles and spies, who in addition to the United Front also exist in the military and secret service, to paralyze Taiwan – entirely according to the teachings of Sun Tse in „The Art of War“, in which he also mentions, among other things, the use of 8 types of spies, as well as those who then decompose and paralyze the enemy from within and, so to speak, as has often happened in Chinese history, open the enemy the city gates to surrender. Taiwan would then be defeated less by the PLA from the outside, but from the inside. The DDP wants to prevent this now and it is strange that this is only happening now, especially since several KMT military personnel and members were already openly discussing in chat groups whether Taiwan should be subjected to war at all or whether it would be better to capitulate and reunite with China. In any case, they seem to want to correct this now, since it’s ridiculous how much freedom has been given to Chinese spies and also small penalties.

That disloyal military can play an important role in an emergency and crisis situation shows the resistance group around Stauffenberg, Operation Valkyrie or the Cannaris organization, which were in contact with the Allies, or most recently US Chief of Staff Milley, who claimed that when Trump left office that he had secretly contacted his Chinese colleagues and assured them that if Trump wanted to start a Sino-American war at the last moment, he would disobey and not execute his orders. Conversely, NATO and US strategists are hoping for similar things from Russian siloviki, the military and FSB members, should Putin give a last-ditch desperate order. It’s not so simple that he can press a red button, but that there is still a chain of command to execute the command that can be interrupted. Similar to Hitler in the Führer bunker during the final battle with the Red Army for Berlin, when he gave the order to destroy all of Germany and only leave scorched earth behind, since such an inferior people as the Germans were not worth surviving and living . However, Albert Speer and other sections of the old elite, including Himmler and Göring, refused to carry out the order, so Hitler saw that he was completely isolated and murdered himself with Eva Braun.

So this Business Insider story comes as no surprise:

“Oligarchs, military, executives: CIA wants to recruit Russian spies worldwide

Business Insider Germany 23 Nov 2022

CIA spy chief David Marlowe said in a speech at the Hayden Center that the agency was looking for disaffected Russians to recruit as spies. According to the Wall Street Journal, his statements echo those of CIA officers who see disgruntled Russian military officers and spurned oligarchs as breeding grounds for agent recruitment. A war of espionage has been going on in and around Europe for months, which, according to the British foreign intelligence service MI6, has already severely weakened the Kremlin. The United States‘ foreign intelligence service, or CIA for short, wants to recruit Russian soldiers who are dissatisfied with the Ukraine war as spies. So said spy chief and deputy director of the CIA, David Marlowe, on his first public appearance at George Mason University in Virginia. “Because we are open for business”

According to a Wall Street Journal article, Marlowe stated that the invasion of Ukraine was a massive failure for Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, this opens up new opportunities for Western intelligence services among the dissatisfied Russians, Marlowe said. He went on to say, „Putin had his best moment the day before the invasion, when he still had a chance to force Ukraine, influence NATO, and show that Russia is a powerful nation.“ According to Marlowe, Putin has every single one piece of it wasted. The CIA is now looking around the world for Russians who are just as „disgusted“ with this war as they are. “Because we’re open for business,” says Marlowe. The spy chief appeared at George Mason University’s Hayden Center and spoke to a select audience of faculty and staff. On Monday, the Hayden Center released a video of the event, which Linda Weissgold also attended. She is the CIA’s Deputy Director of Analysis. Her department is responsible for compiling intelligence reports and briefing President Biden and other top officials.

Weissgold stressed that the war in Ukraine was far from over. Despite repeated setbacks, Putin has not given up on his original goals in Ukraine, she said. A key factor is that each side knows what it is fighting for. „Ukrainian soldiers know that. Russian soldiers not so much.“ A fertile ground for recruiting spies Marlowe was appointed to his post by CIA Director William Burns in June 2021. Before that, he had headed several CIA stations abroad, including in the Middle East. His comments echo recent claims by former senior CIA officers. The dissatisfaction of many Russians with the invasion of Ukraine in February is said to provide fertile ground for recruiting agents. Among disgruntled military officers, oligarchs who saw their fortunes eroded by the sanctions, and businessmen and others who fled the country.

According to the Wall Street Journal, it is unclear how seriously Marlowe’s statements are to be taken. What we do know, however, is that parallel to the military actions in Ukraine, an intensified war of espionage has been going on in and around Europe for months. The European government has expelled hundreds of Russian diplomats because they were suspected of being spies. In Moscow and other Russian cities, the Kremlin has ordered cuts in the US diplomatic presence, severely reducing opportunities for espionage. According to the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency MI6, Richard Moore, the expulsion of hundreds of suspected Russian spies by Western European governments has severely hampered the Kremlin’s intelligence activities. Moore said at the Aspen Security Forum this summer, „At last count, over 400 Russian intelligence agents working under diplomatic cover were expelled.“ He believes that cuts the ability to spy for Russia in Britain by half reduced.”

https://www.businessinsider.de/politik/cia-russische-spione-rekrutierung/

However the story is not hat the CIA wants now only to recruit some dissatisfied and war fatigue Russian miliary officers on the Ukrainan battle filed or maybe the one or other oligarch.

The CIA and the other 17 secret services of the USA have been doing this for a long time and also worldwide, like every secret service. Recruiting people from the other side or even from allies using the four main motives of greed, disappointment with one’s own system/ideology/government or blackmail stories (infidelity or other skeletons in the closet) or instability of the target person’s character (Stasi Romeos, loveboys/sex traps, etc ). The new thing is that the CIA is trumpeting it so openly as a job offer with two objectives: Firstly, to really fuel the paranoia among the Putin supporters and the already professionally paranoid siloviki and to destroy all trust among tem and one another, and secondly to signal that there is a rescue in a desperate situation and one can actively contribute to stopping the dissatisfaction-generating conditions and be it in the extreme case by a coup against Putin or by not carrying out orders. From this level of escalation the interest is not any more pure and primarily information gathering,. The CIA had famously made it as far as recruiting a member of the Politburo during the Cold War, but whether that was the whole story of the end of the Cold War remains the question as it remains unclear if the billion-dollar loan (Milliardenkredit)  from FJ Strauss and the Schalck-Golodowski connection was really only  an attempt to bring some few Bavarian sausage manufacturers to do business in and sell 2 AIRBUSes in the GDR or if it was not  a huge secret service recruitment attempt to buy all those silowikis and cadres out. We´ll never find out.