A Chinese-American suspected of spying for Taiwan will soon be headed to court, Beijing's Global Times reported on Monday. An investigation revealed that he had been involved in spying against the mainland, and that most of his espionage activities had taken place in the US. 

David Wei Dong (Chinese name Dong Wei), was arrested last September shortly after he arrived on the mainland and is being held in Guangzhou, according to the China Daily.

 

Dong, 52, a former Chinese state media correspondent in Sichuan Province, went to study in the United States in July 1986 and was self-supported. He received permanent residency status in 1987 and became a US citizen in 1995.

 

The Global Times reports that Dong began receiving money from Taiwan's spy agency and providing large amounts of information, including diplomatic secrets, in 1990. Activities included collecting confidential information revealed at closed-door meetings of the central government. The paper reported that Dong received remuneration of US$3,000 per month from the Taiwan spy agency and US$7,000 as an expense fund. He also accepted a house valued at US$268,000 from the agency.

 

The report indicated that Dong was recruited by Taiwanese Peter Wang, then a key figure with the military intelligence bureau under the Taiwan "ministry of national defense." Wang was later affiliated with Taiwan's top intelligence agency, the "national security bureau," as a special agent in the United States.

 

China formally informed the United States embassy and consulate last September, according to the Global Times. The paper also said US officials have visited Dong nine times since then.

 

The United States Embassy in Beijing Tuesday declined to comment on the case.

 

A China Daily source indicated that the case is still being investigated.

 

The Chinese mainland has announced arrests over the past two years of several groups of Taiwanese and mainlanders on spying charges.

 

Yang Jianli, a Chinese national serving as a research fellow at Harvard University in the US, was sentenced to five years in prison and deprived of political rights for one year after being convicted of espionage and illegal border crossing. The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court handed down its ruling in May this year.

 

Earlier this month, Taiwanese Sung Hsiao-lien (Song Xiaolian) was convicted by a court in Hainan Province of receiving money from Taiwan's military spy agency and providing information on unspecified "military conditions." Sung, who was sentenced to four years in prison, was among seven Taiwanese detained late last year and charged in January with spying.

 

The mainland announced last December that it had detained 24 Taiwanese and 19 mainlanders on spying charges and that all had confessed.

 

(China Daily July 28, 2004)