justice

A Taipei court on Friday ordered that a Chinese spy, who previously studied in Taiwan for years,  be detained and held incommunicado.

According to state-run Central News Agency (CNA), the Chinese man, surnamed Zhou, is the first case of a visiting student turned spy.

It noted that he studied at Taiwan’s National Chengchi University from 2012 to 2016.

According to the court, Zhou is suspected of violating the national security law for building networks and gathering confidential information from several government units and schools.

Katharine Chang, minister of the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan’s top China policy body, said that the policy of admitting visiting Chinese students will not change.

“However, we strongly urge Chinese students studying here not to violate laws,’’ Chang warned.

Chang refused to comment on the case and declined to forecast possible impacts on relations with China.

In 2011, Taiwan began to admit Chinese students to its universities.

Currently, there are over 3,000 Chinese students studying at Taiwan’s universities in different cities.

China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since the end of a civil war in 1949 and there is no formal cross-strait diplomatic relations. (dpa/NAN)