Yoshiaki Nishimi 
The Chinese and Taiwanese flags (©Reuters).
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Since the start of 2025, authorities have taken several Chinese spies into custody in Taiwan and the Philippines. What are China's targets as it ramps up espionage in Asia? And is Japan safe from its spy operations?
Top-ranking Chinese Spy
In Taiwan, police arrested several retired military officers for plotting to overthrow the Taiwan government in cooperation with China.
On January 20, a retired lieutenant general was indicted on charges of violating Taiwan's National Security Act. He had previously served as deputy commander of the 6th Army Corps, responsible for the defense of northern Taiwan. Local media characterized him as "the highest-ranking officer to date acting as a Chinese spy," and the case attracted considerable attention.
Taiwan's government, led by President Lai Ching-te, is now facing the urgent task of responding to Chinese infiltration operations.
Planned Assassinations
According to the Taiwan High Prosecutors' Office, the six defendants in the case, including retired Lieutenant General Kao An-kuo, traveled to China between 2018 and 2024. There, they liaised with Chinese military intelligence.
With financial support from the Chinese government, Kao and his co-conspirators plotted to form an armed group in Taiwan. Their goal was to initiate an uprising in the event of a Chinese invasion. Prosecutors called for Kao, the leader of the plot, to receive a minimum sentence of ten years in prison.
According to the Liberty Times, a daily newspaper in Taiwan, Kao had devised detailed plans to target government offices in Taiwan. His plot included killing government officials and military and police personnel and destroying military bases. The six conspirators allegedly received a total of NT$9.62 million TWD (approximately $292,000 USD) from their Chinese handlers.
Coup Plot
Kao's group was allegedly planning to "bring 100,000 Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops into Taiwan." Moreover, it had also secretly formed a "sniper squad" to kill Taiwanese independence activists.
A spokesman for the Mainland Affairs Council, which oversees Taiwan's China policy, expressed alarm concerning the two cases at a January 23 press conference. "They (the cases) are very similar," he stated. "The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is cultivating these armed elements in a planned and systematic manner."
He also revealed that more than 85% of national security cases involve retired military personnel or police officers.
A January 12 report from Taiwan's National Security Bureau reveals that 64 individuals were indicted in 2024 for Chinese espionage cases. This marks a sharp rise from only ten in 2022. Of these, 43 were active duty or retired military, accounting for just under 70%.
Drone Photos and Local Marriages
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, authorities have uncovered another large-scale criminal case involving Chinese nationals conducting espionage. In this case, they are accused of targeting national defense information.
Local authorities suspect that the men they took into custody used drones to gather intelligence on United States and Philippine military installations. They may have been transmitting the images to China in real time.
Chinese spies have been staying in the Philippines by marrying local women or disguising their identities. The reality of the rampant presence of "sleeper agents" in their midst has caused shock waves among the public.
On January 20, the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of three people on suspicion of espionage. One was a Chinese national, Deng Yuanqing (39), and two were Filipino men.
During December 2024 and January 2025, the trio allegedly employed vehicles equipped with communication devices while engaged in intelligence-gathering activities. They filmed critical facilities, such as Camp Aguinaldo in Manila, where the Philippine military headquarters is located.
Hi-tech Spying Equipment
Additionally, it was announced on January 30 that a different group of five Chinese nationals had been arrested. They are accused of photographing Philippine military and coast guard bases on the western island of Palawan between 2023 and 2024. According to reports, they used high-resolution cameras and drones to take these photos.
Palawan is close to the Spratly Islands, over which both China and the Philippines claim sovereignty. Moreover, the island is also a strategic military location, with a Philippine military headquarters and runways used by the US military. Philippine authorities believe the men were monitoring the movements of both nations' militaries.
Investigators have been shocked by the sophisticated spy equipment they seized from both groups. Authorities confirmed that parties outside the Philippines could remotely control the communication equipment they seized. They also discovered military-grade cameras capable of monitoring even at night. Apparently, the groups transmitted data in real-time to a remote location, though the exact destination remains unclear. However, investigators suspect that they sent the data to China.
Tip of the Iceberg
According to local media, Deng is a software engineer who graduated from the PLA Engineering University in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. He has been traveling in and out of the Philippines since 2013. Deng is married to a Filipina and holds a permanent resident visa. He was a "sleeper agent" who acted as an ordinary citizen in his day-to-day life. However, he remained prepared to carry out espionage or sabotage when directed by his spymasters.
Five other Chinese detainees posed as members of volunteer groups or Sino-Philippine friendship groups and met regularly to share intelligence. They claimed they came to Palawan "to purchase seafood." These suspects reportedly met with Deng once a month at the direction of individuals in the PRC. Possibly, they were working together as an organized spy ring.
General Romeo Browner Jr, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, expressed concern that the activities of the suspects posed a "grave danger to national security." He characterized the recent incidents as "just the tip of the iceberg" and suggested there were other spies lurking in the Philippines.
'Shadow-chasing'?
Philippine Army spokesman Xerxes Trinidad highlighted that the incidents were part of a "planned effort by foreign forces to create detailed maps." He emphasized that this effort could threaten the nation's sovereignty and security. Analysts suggest that the activities are closely related to China's increasingly frequent surveying and reconnaissance activities in the South China Sea in recent years.
During a January 22 press conference, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning refuted the charges. "We hope the Philippines will stick to the facts, stop shadow-chasing, stop peddling the so-called 'Chinese spy' [story], and earnestly protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese nationals in the Philippines," she stated.
'Democracy Activist' Spies
Xi Jinping's regime has been strengthening its intelligence operations in the name of "national security." Simultaneously, it has been intensifying the surreptitious activities of its intelligence agents. This is the backdrop against which police in various countries have arrested Chinese spies in recent years.
Take the US for example. In September 2024, police arrested a Chinese American serving as a close aide to the governor of New York. Acting on behalf of the CCP, she disrupted contact between state government officials and Taiwanese officials.
Several Chinese Americans who had long been involved in promoting democracy in China were also arrested for secretly cooperating with Chinese authorities. US authorities believe they may have been spying under the guise of participation in the democracy movement.
In April 2024, German police arrested a PRC-born German passport holder. He worked on the staff of a European Parliament member and was an aide to an MEP from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Police suspect he leaked information about democratic activists living in Germany to China.
Over 1,000 Fake IDs
Alice Guo, the former mayor of Bambang in Tarlac Province, was arrested in the Philippines in September 2024. She is suspected of being involved in running a Chinese online casino linked to human trafficking.
Suspicions also arose that Guo was, in fact, a Chinese national, not a citizen of the Philippines. She has faced criticism as a "Communist spy."
Army spokesman Trinidad points out that there has been a "pattern" to the recent spate of spy incidents. The common thread is the use of false identities. Trinidad also claims that the cases of Deng and Guo "may be related." According to local media, by 2024, more than 1,000 Chinese nationals living in the Philippines had fake IDs.
In the Philippines, there is rising "anti-China sentiment" and widespread concern over a "Chinese threat." Recent spy cases and the ongoing standoff in the South China Sea are fueling these cases.
Calls for an anti-espionage law are also growing. It seems that the repercussions of these spy cases may not be short-lived.
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Authors: Yoshiaki Nishimi, The Sankei Shimbun, Taipei, and
Tomo Kuwamura, The Sankei Shimbun
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