Taiwan Pursues Homegrown Chinese Spies As Beijing's Influence Grows

After a sharp rise in the number of people prosecuted for spying for China in recent years, the Taiwanese government is trying to identify people within its own departments, military and public schools with a possible allegiance to Beijing (Credit: AFP)

Taiwan is vetting hundreds of thousands of military service members, public school teachers and civil servants in a bid to root out potential homegrown Chinese sympathisers, as Beijing intensifies espionage on the island.

Alarm is growing in Taiwan over the extent of China's infiltration on the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims is part of its territory and has threatened to seize by force.