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Why the U.S. Needs its Big Ear on China

Taiwanese Espionage disaster forced US to take Spyplane risk

When President George W. Bush quite rightly stated that the USA has perfectly viable National Security reasons for maintaining the aerial surveillance of Communist China it was by no means the whole of a fascinating spy story.

The US Intelligence and Military communities have maintained 24-hour a day surveillance of China since 1949 when Chairman Mao and the Red Army forced the remnants of Chiang Kai Shek's Nationalist forces to flee to the island of Formosa, now Taiwan.

Every form of intelligence method has been used from the hoovering-up of millions of telephone calls, adding later faxes and now e-mails, the use of traditional spies, double agents, traitors and defectors, covert operations conducted by US and Taiwan special forces deep within mainland China. Sabotage, black operations and disinformation.

US Navy surface vessels and specially equipped submarines packed with hi-tech electronic warfare gear patrolling the coast, exotic mini- spy subs penetrating ports, bays and even the larger rivers of China.

A massive and long running USAF and US Navy air surveillance program, often aided by Taiwan, S.Korean and Japanese aerial 'assets' which has monitored every missile launch, aircraft test flight, new radar test, communications, command & control network, and even personal conversations between Government & military leaders. The United States Satellite program, vast in its breadth and capability listens into and photographs everything that moves...China is under blanket surveillance at all times.

The problem arises when the Western Intelligence community desperately needs to know quickly about new developments, about advanced equipment still under a shroud of security. A new type of quiet hunter-killer submarine, new anti-Carrier naval tactics, new radar or communications systems which the Chinese have so far managed to hide from the US big-ear in space.

Part of the reason for the US taking the constant risk of this sort of crisis occurring, is to 'trigger' or provoke the Chinese into activating such new systems so that they can be monitored on board aircraft like the US EP-3 or the USAF RC135.

However, the need for HUMINT or Human Intelligence, the spy on the ground, who works in an arms factory, on the railways, serves with a Chinese military unit or better still has entry into the Communist Party or Government, arises when you need to know about future plans, intentions, who's in and whose out, research projects and a range of other intelligence which cannot be gathered from space, ship or aircraft.

The United States has largely relied on Taiwan and its intelligence service for such high-grade information, and here they have recently suffered a major disaster. For in April 1999, Taiwan's foremost spymaster in China, Yeh Ping-Nan, a former Colonel in Military Intelligence was arrested in the southern city of Guangzhou, not far from Hainan island.

After severe interrogation the Chinese Security Service were able to arrest or kill most of his agents and contacts, effectively crippling the Taiwanese intelligence network in China and depriving the CIA of its most valuable sources of information about China's real intentions. This required the stepping up of external electronic surveillance to try to compensate for the loss, however this in turn increased the risks of a EP-3 style incident.

The United States, faced with the growing power and confidence of China must ensure its national security. It must continue, and in all probability, increase its monitoring of China.

It must also therefore accept that the crisis over the EP-3 and its 24 crew will not be the last such incident.....forewarned is to be forearmed and it is the bitter price a Global Superpower like the USA, must be prepared to pay for its security.

AFI at afi@supanet.com or telephone/fax +44(0)1626 33 50 40

Associates: Richard Bennett(AFI-UK), Dr James Hawker(Consultant-UK),
Robert Zeidner(Consultant-USA), Michael Crawford(MILNET-USA)
and Ms Kate Bennett(Researcher-UK)
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AFI Research, The Ground Floor, 27 The Avenue, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ12 2BZ, UK
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