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🇹🇼 Taiwan /Conflict & Security

German Scholar Says Chinese Agent Followed Him While Touring Taiwan, Warning of Pervasive Infiltration

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • German scholar Jürgen Kremb said a Chinese woman followed him while he visited Taiwan’s Alishan last year, and Taiwan’s Investigation Bureau later reviewed surveillance footage and confirmed the pursuit.
  • Kremb said the woman followed him and a friend, appeared at their hotel despite not staying there, and left Taiwan two days after investigators began examining the case.
  • Activist Chang Yu-meng said people entering from third countries or under business pretenses create a new challenge for Taiwan’s efforts to detect infiltration.

A German scholar researching Chinese intelligence agencies says he realized he was being followed only after the same woman appeared at his hotel in Alishan, despite not staying there.

Jürgen Kremb said he was visiting Alishan with a friend during a break from his work on Chinese intelligence agencies and Chinese espionage activities targeting Taiwan. A woman began following them and spoke with a strong northern Chinese accent. Kremb asked her how a Chinese tourist could freely travel independently in Taiwan. She then suddenly claimed to live in Denmark and made a phone call to an unidentified person.

Kremb initially considered the encounter possibly coincidental. To be cautious, he returned to his hotel, where he saw the woman sitting in the lobby. After discovering that she was not a guest, he warned his friend to stop talking. He believed their conversation may have been secretly monitored.

Infiltration is truly everywhere, and the border is truly difficult to defend.

· Chang Yu-mengHe described the difficulty of detecting suspected infiltration by people entering Taiwan through tourism or business channels.

After returning to Taipei, Kremb contacted Taiwan’s Investigation Bureau. Investigators reviewed surveillance footage and found that the woman had repeatedly hidden behind cars and in alleys while following them. Chang Yu-meng, a board member of the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy, said the footage showed professional surveillance techniques.

Chang said authorities began tracing the woman but found that she left Taiwan two days after realizing her pursuit had been noticed. He said Taiwan already monitors people with identifiable political, military, or government ties, but visitors arriving through a third country or entering under a business pretext create a new challenge for law enforcement. Referring to a previous case involving alleged false documents and sham business exchanges, Chang warned: "Infiltration is truly everywhere, and the border is truly difficult to defend."

Chinese tourists cannot freely travel independently in Taiwan.

· Jürgen KrembHe said he challenged the woman after becoming suspicious of her presence and accent.
About this summary

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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