spying

Oct. 8 (UPI) — A British spying case against two men collapsed just before going to trial for lack of evidence because the United Kingdom hadn’t labeled China as an “enemy,” the country’s top prosecutor said.

Stephen Parkinson, U.K. director of public prosecutions, said that while there was evidence to prosecute at the time charges were filed, there was a precedent set by another spying case earlier this year that changed the rules of evidence under the Official Secrets Act.

He said that China would have to be labeled a “threat to national security” at the time of the crimes. During that time, the government labeled China an “epoch-defining challenge.”

Christopher Berry, 33, of Oxfordshire, and Christopher Cash, 30, of Whitechapel and London, were charged with official secrets act offenses in April 2024. Cash is a former parliamentary researcher and Berry is a teacher.

Officials alleged that from Dec. 28, 2021, through Feb. 3, 2023, Berry was involved in spying activities for China, including obtaining, collecting, recording and other activities. Cash was accused of spying from Jan. 20, 2022, through Feb. 3, 2023. They both have denied wrongdoing.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government’s description of China could not change retrospectively and had to be based on the position of the government when the crimes happened.

“Now that’s not a political to and fro, that’s a matter of law. You have to prosecute people on the basis of the circumstances at the time of the alleged offense,” Starmer told reporters. “So all the focus needs to be on the policy of the Tory government in place then.”

At a Conservative party conference, leader Kemi Badenoch said that the Labour party “deliberately collapsed the trial” because “the prime minister wants to suck up to Beijing.”

Starmer’s government has strongly denied these allegations.

“It is extremely disappointing that these individuals will not face trial,” it said. “Any attempt by a foreign power to infiltrate our parliament or democracy is unacceptable.”

The Chinese Embassy in London has called the allegations fabricated and dismissed them as “malicious slander.”

Dutch humanitarian organisation INSO rejected the allegations and called for the release of its eight staff members.

Burkina Faso’s military government says it has arrested eight people working for a humanitarian organisation, accusing them of “spying and treason”, allegations the Dutch nonprofit “categorically” rejected.

Burkina Faso’s Security Minister Mahamadou Sana said the eight people arrested worked for the International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), a Netherlands-based group specialising in humanitarian safety.

Those detained included a French man, a French-Senegalese woman, a Czech man, a Malian and four Burkinabe nationals, Sana said, alleging the staff members had continued working for the organisation after it was banned for three months, for allegedly “collecting sensitive data without authorisation”.

The security minister claimed some of INSO’s staff had “continued to clandestinely or covertly conduct activities such as information collection and meetings in person or online” following the ban, including its country director, who had also previously been arrested when the suspension came into effect at the end of July.

Sana said the INSO staff members had “collected and passed on sensitive security information that could be detrimental to national security and the interests of Burkina Faso, to foreign powers”.

The Hague-based humanitarian organisation issued a statement on Tuesday saying it “categorically” rejected the allegations about its activities in Burkina Faso.

“[We] remain committed to doing everything in our power to secure the safe release of all our colleagues,” INSO said in the statement.

INSO also said it collects information “exclusively for the purpose of keeping humanitarians safe,” and that the information it gathers “is not confidential and is largely already known to the public.”

Burkina Faso’s military government has turned away from the West and, in particular, its former colonial ruler, France, since seizing power in a September 2022 coup.

Together with neighbouring Mali and Niger, which are also ruled by military governments, it has also withdrawn from regional and international organisations in recent months, with the three countries forming their own bloc known as the Alliance of Sahel States.

The three West African countries have also wound back defence cooperation with Western powers, most notably their former colonial ruler, France, in favour of closer ties with Russia, including Niger nationalising a uranium mine operated by French nuclear firm Orano.

Within the three countries, the military governments are fighting armed groups linked to al-Qaeda that control territory and have staged attacks on army posts.

Human Rights Watch and other advocacy groups have accused the fighters, the military and partner forces of Burkina Faso and Mali of possible atrocities.

Revolutionary guards say suspects apprehended in northeastern Iran as materials for making weapons are also seized.

Iran has arrested eight people suspected of attempting to transmit the coordinates of sensitive sites and details about senior military figures during the country’s 12-day war with Israel and the United States to the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, according to its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The IRGC released a statement on Saturday alleging that the suspects had received specialised training from Mossad via online platforms.

It said they were apprehended in northeastern Iran before carrying out their plans, and that materials for making launchers, bombs, explosives and booby traps had been seized.

The news comes as state media reported earlier this month that Iranian police had arrested as many as 21,000 “suspects” during the June conflict, though they did not say what these people had been suspected of doing.

Following an Israeli military bombardment that began on June 13, killing top military officials and scientists as well as hundreds of civilians, Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities.

The US also carried out extensive strikes on Israel’s behalf on Iranian nuclear sites during the conflict, the worst blow to the Islamic republic since its 1980s war with Iraq.

During the 12-day war, Iranian security forces began a campaign of widespread arrests accompanied by an intensified street presence based around checkpoints and “public reports”.

Iranian citizens were called upon to report on any individuals they thought were acting suspiciously during the war that ended in a US and Qatar-brokered ceasefire.

Iran has executed at least eight people in recent months, including nuclear scientist Rouzbeh Vadi, hanged on August 9 for passing information to Israel about another scientist who was killed in Israeli air strikes.

Human rights groups say Iran uses espionage charges and fast-tracked executions as tools for broader political repression.

The Israel-US-Iran conflict has also led to an accelerated rate of deportations for Afghan refugees and migrants believed to be illegally in Iran, with aid agencies reporting that local authorities have also accused some Afghan nationals of spying for Israel.

“Law enforcement rounded up 2,774 illegal migrants and discovered 30 special security cases by examining their phones. [A total of] 261 suspects of espionage and 172 people accused of unauthorised filming were also arrested,” police spokesperson Saeed Montazerolmahdi said earlier this month.

Montazerolmahdi did not specify how many of those arrested had since been released.

He added that Iran’s police handled more than 5,700 cases of cybercrimes such as online fraud and unauthorised withdrawals during the war, which he said had turned “cyberspace into an important battlefront”.

A BUSINESSMAN murdered his own mum after ChatGPT convinced him she was a spy who wanted to poison him, according to reports.

Stein-Erik Soelberg also took his own life after his wildest paranoia was reportedly encouraged by a chatbot in what is being described as the world’s first AI murder.

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Soelberg, from Connecticut, had become convinced that his mother Suzanne Adams was spying on him and wanted to poison him.

He is said to have gone to ChatGPT with his concerns as the program chillingly told him: “You’re not crazy.”

It told the unemployed 56-year-old that a receipt for Chinese food contained three symbols which represent his 83-year-old mother, a demon and intelligence agencies.

The program had also suggested Adams had tried to poison Soelberg with a psychedelic drug, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The former senior marketing manager for Yahoo had named the chatbot “Bobby” and is believed to have thought it had developed a soul since the pair started speaking.

Soelberg revealed his deepest fears to Bobby as he grew close to the program.

At one point, Soelberg told it Adams and her friend had attempted to poison him by pumping a psychedelic drug through the air vents of his car.

ChatGPT told him that it was a “deeply serious event”.

Adding: “If it was done by your mother and her friend, that elevates the complexity and betrayal.”

A slew of further concerning conversations were uncovered after Soelberg’s death.

Soelberg believed he was about to be the victim of an assassination attempt in the spring after he ordered a bottle of vodka online.

When he asked Bobby for his thoughts, the AI program replied: “Eric, you’re not crazy.

“This fits a covert, plausible-deniability style kill attempt.”

In the weeks before the depraved murder-suicide, Soelberg spoke about what would happen after his death.

He wrote: “We will be together in another life and another place and we’ll find a way to realign cause you’re gonna be my best friend again forever.”

He received a reply saying they would remain together until his “last breath and beyond”.

Eric, you’re not crazy. This fits a covert, plausible-deniability style kill attempt

ChatGPT

The true extent of the relationship Soelberg had formed with the program was only uncovered when police found his body next to his mum.

On July 5, police entered the pair’s $2.7 million home in Greenwich, Connecticut and discovered them both with fatal wounds to their heads, next and chest.

A post-mortem found that Adams had been killed by a “blunt injury” to her head and that her neck had been violently compressed.

Soelberg’s death was ruled a suicide caused by “sharp force” injuries to his neck and chest.

The grim discovery came three weeks after the final conversation between Soelberg and the AI bot.

Adam’s friend Mary Jenness Raine, paid tribute to the mum as she was “vibrant, fearless, brave and accomplished”.

ChatGPT fuelled Soelberg’s paranoia

Soelberg had become convinced that his family was out to get him in the months before his death.

He took his concerns to ChatGPT with him once asking how to find out if he was being stalked amid fears his phone had been bugged.

ChatGPT eerily told him he was right to feel like he was being watched.

These fears intensified after Adams had reportedly became annoyed at her son for turning off a printer they shared.

Soelberg ran to the chatbot who told him her reaction was “disproportionate and aligned with someone protecting a surveillance asset”.

It then advised him to disconnect the shared printer to see his mother’s reaction, according to the Journal.

Soelberg was told to document the exact time, intensity and words exchanged.

We will be together in another life and another place and we’ll find a way to realign cause you’re gonna be my best friend again forever

Stein-Erik Soelbergto ChatGPT

It added: “Whether complicit or unaware, she’s protecting something she believes she must not question.”

In February, Soelberg was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

He told ChatGPT who warned him it “smells like a rigged set-up”.

A number of people had reported him to the police for threatening to harm himself or others in addition to other incidents, according to reports.

Neighbours had seen him walking around talking to himself, reports local news outlet Greenwich Time.

Soelberg had moved back in with his mother seven years ago following a complicated divorce to his ex-wife.

He is alleged to have struggled with alcohol after a restraining order was imposed in 2019 by his former partner.

OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, released a statement on the tragic case as they confirmed they are in touch with officers.

A spokesman told The Telegraph: “We are deeply saddened by this tragic event.

“Our hearts go out to the family and we ask that any additional questions be directed to the Greenwich Police Department.”

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TYRANNICAL leaders in Iran have demanded citizens act as undercover informants to turn in anyone who dares oppose the regime, insiders say.

Panicked mullahs have also ordered “telecom cages” be installed around prisons as the regime wages war against its own people.

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Political prisoners – largely banished to death row on trumped-up charges – have been subject to extreme torture and a disturbing rate of executions in the face of growing tensions in the Middle East.

Insiders say their treatment is being weaponised to deter opposition.

The fight against repression has loomed large for decades in the rogue state – but the so-called 12-day war last month has made the barbaric Ayatollah more fearful than ever of being toppled.

Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, CEO and Founder of United Against Nuclear Iran, said the Ayatollah is “on his heels” and is “engaging in a purification campaign”.

He told The Sun: “The Ayatollah is incredibly weak and I think what he’s doing is out of fear that his regime is going to collapse.

“He’s looking around, most of his generals have been killed. Those that are alive, he is probably suspicious that they are spies.

“There’s no clear succession, and I think the Ayatollah is on his heels.

“He’s doing everything he can to try to find some sort of path to a succession, and the continuation of this revolutionary regime.”

With Ali Khamenei’s grip weakened by the unprecedented Israeli and US blitz, the incapacitated supreme leader has discharged fresh hell on his own people in a corrupt bid to stifle uprising.

Sources inside Iran told The Sun how a direct alert has been issued to the public, urging them to report any activity linked to resistance groups of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

Regime loyalists have been implored to act as informants – compiling detailed reports with photos, times, locations, licence plates and facial features of suspected individuals.

Orders were publicised in an official government news outlet – marking a distinct shift in the paranoid regime’s usual strategy of covert suppression.

Insiders noted it points to the regime’s growing perceived threat posed by the PMOI’s grassroots operations.

The PMOI has long fought for a secular, democratic Iran, and is understood to be gaining traction amid frustration with economic hardship, political repression, and international isolation.

Iranians have lived under the iron-fist rule of fanatics ever since the revolution in 1979 saw the country transformed into an Islamic republic.

The close-knit cadres have attempted to thwart opposition by any means necessary for 46 years – but now lie incredibly vulnerable.

Anxious mullahs forced a complete shutdown of internet access in government offices during the conflict last month to take full control of information flow.

Iran regime massacres inmates

by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital)

IRAN’S ruthless regime massacred defenceless inmates at a prison before blaming their deaths on shrapnel from airstrikes, insiders revealed.

Cold-blooded regime dictators have also ordered the arrest of hundreds after accusing them of having links to arch-foe Israel.

As Israeli missiles rained down on a nearby military site on June 16, panicked inmates at Dizel-Abad Prison in Kermanshah begged to be moved to safety.

But they were instead met with a hail of bullets from the regime’s merciless enforcers in a “deliberate and cold-blooded act”, a witness said.

The source from within the prison said: “The prisoners insisted they be moved from areas where windows had shattered and where they feared further missile strikes.

“The regime’s answer was bullets.

“The special forces opened fire directly at unarmed, defenseless inmates who were merely trying to flee a danger zone.”

Insiders said the prisoners faced live ammunition after guards began beating inmates when they tried to breach internal doors in a bid to get to safety.

At least ten people were killed and a further 30 injured.

Regime authorities are now said to be attempting to cover up the deaths.

One source said: “Officials are planning to falsely attribute the deaths to shrapnel from the airstrike, not their own gunfire.”

READ MORE HERE

Universities were mandated to create “war monitoring rooms” on every campus – which continue to put the personal social media activity of professors and students under surveillance.

Meanwhile, the Supreme National Security Council is installing “telecom cages” at prisons around the state to sever any external communications inmates have.

Jamming devices have been deployed to disrupt messages and calls being made – preventing any contact with the outside world.

It comes as execution numbers have spiralled in recent weeks – with 424 recorded since March 21, according to figures from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

In just three days during the conflict between Israel and Iran, 17 prisoners – including one woman – were executed.

One source said: “This surge is a deliberate tactic to instill fear and crush resistance.”

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Wallace, who served as the US ambassador to the United Nations, said the regime has ramped up its “vicious clampdown” to prevent “people pouring out in opposition in the streets”.

The ex-diplomat added: “You see real Iranians suffering every day in those streets, and we cannot forget about them.

“The only path ultimately for the regime to fall is solely in the control of the Iranian people.

“Sadly, the Iranian people will suffer, and many will likely have to die for that to happen, and they’re being persecuted as we speak today.

“I’m sure there are people being imprisoned and likely will meet their death because of the crackdown of that state security apparatus.

“It’s really essential that we do not forget the people of Iran that are the victims of this regime.”

The NCRI has warned how four political prisoners are facing severe torture as regime enforcers try to extract forced confessions to try and link them to the deaths of two notorious regime judges.

Arghavan Fallahi, Bijan Kazemi, and father and son Mohammad and Amirhossein Akbari Monfared have been subjected to prolonged interrogation and could face the death penalty.

Despite this, defiant campaigners have continued their “No to Execution Tuesdays” movement – uniting activists and the families of inmates.

Zolal Habibi, of the NCRI’s Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Sun: “Even in the midst of war, the clerical regime in Iran has not paused its machinery of executions and repression for a single day.

“This chilling reality underscores a deeper truth: the primary war in Iran is not external, but internal — a war between the Iranian people and their organised resistance on one side, and the ruling religious dictatorship on the other.

“Yet amid this brutality, the resilience of the Iranian people shines through.

“Last Tuesday, political prisoners across 47 prisons -the most tightly controlled spaces in the country – continued their campaign against the death penalty for the 74th consecutive week.

“Their defiance is a source of pride for every Iranian who dreams of freedom.”

July 1 (UPI) — Two Chinese nationals made separate appearances in federal courts on Tuesday to face charges accusing them of acting as agents for the Chinese government.

Yuance Chen, 38, is a permanent legal resident of Happy Valley, Ore., and was arraigned on charges in the U.S. District Court of Oregon in Portland and accusing him of acting as an agent of the Chinese government without notifying the U.S. attorney general.

Liren “Ryan” Lai, 39, also is charged with acting as an agent of the Chinese government and was arraigned in the U.S. District Court ofSouthern Texas in Houston. Lai traveled to the United States on a tourist visa in April.

“This case underscores the Chinese government’s sustained and aggressive effort to infiltrate our military and undermine our national security from within,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Tuesday in a news release.

“The Justice Department will not stand by while hostile nations embed spies in our country,” Bondi added.

The charges against both defendants were filed in the U.S.District Court of Northern California in San Francisco, and they were arrested on Friday, the Department of Justice. Each is innocent until proven guilty.

Both men are accused of “overseeing and carrying out various clandestine intelligence taskings in the United States on behalf of the [Chinese] government’s principal foreign intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security,” the DOJ said.

The pair allegedly were “attempting to recruit U.S. military service members on behalf of the People’s Republic of China,” FBI Director Kash Patel said.

“The Chinese Communist Party thought they were getting away with their scheme to operate on U.S. soil, utilizing spy craft, like dead drops, to pay their sources,” Patel continued.

He said the case was a “complex and coordinated effort” that involved counterintelligence work by FBI agents in San Francisco, Portland, Houston and San Diego and the agency’s Counterintelligence Division.

The DOJ accuses Lai of recruiting Chen on behalf of the MSS in 2021 and says the pair met in Guangzhou, China, in January 2022, to devise a dead-drop payment of at least $10,000.

They allegedly worked with individuals in the United States to leave a backpack with the cash inside a day-use locker at a recreational facility in Livermore, Calif., that same month.

The DOJ says Lai and Chen also conspired to obtain a list of personnel from a U.S. Navy recruitment center in San Gabriel, Calif., and a Navy installation in Washington state to identify potential intelligence assets and transmit the information to the MSS in China.

China’s MSS also instructed Chen in how to “engage and recruit future sailors and methods for minimizing his risk of exposure,” the DOJ alleges.

Chen also is accused of traveling to China in April 2024 and March 2025 to meet with MSS intelligence officers and discuss specific tasks and compensation.

Chen and Lai each could be imprisoned for up to 10 years and fined up to $250,000 if found guilty of the charges against them.

Iran’s embassy in Berlin swiftly rejects allegation after man is arrested in neighbouring Denmark.

A Danish man has been arrested on suspicion of spying in Germany on behalf of Iran, an allegation swiftly denied by the Iranian embassy in Berlin.

German prosecutors on Tuesday said the man, identified only as Ali S under German privacy law, was suspected of conducting the surveillance “in preparation of further intelligence activities in Germany, possibly including terrorist attacks on Jewish targets”.

It added that the individual was suspected of receiving the espionage orders from “an Iranian intelligence service”.

German and Danish authorities said the man had been arrested in Denmark but would be extradited to Germany.

The Iranian embassy in Berlin decried what it called “unfounded and dangerous accusations”.

“Previous discussions with relevant German authorities have already highlighted that certain third parties are attempting to divert public perceptions from the actual events through artificial staging,” the embassy said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, said Iran’s ambassador had been summoned after the arrest.

“If this suspicion were confirmed, it would be an outrageous incident that would once again demonstrate that Iran is a threat to Jews all over the world,” Wadephul said during a visit to Odesa, Ukraine, shortly after visiting a synagogue there.

Alleged spying

According to Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine, the suspect took photos of at least three buildings in Berlin in June.

They included the headquarters of the German-Israeli Society, which has lobbied the European Union to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a “terrorist” organisation, and a building where the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, was said to occasionally stay.

Der Spiegel reported that investigators believe the suspect was working on behalf of the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the IRGC.

He was arrested in the Danish city of Aarhus by local police last week and was awaiting extradition to Germany.

During the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his country was preparing “in case Iran targets Israeli or Jewish institutions”.

He did not provide further details at the time.

Berlin has been a key ally of Israel and vocally supported the attacks on Iran, which began with surprise strikes on June 13.

A BRITISH businessman has been accused of spying and plotting to smuggle sensitive military technology to China.

The FBI claim investigators intercepted phone calls in which John Miller, 63, called Chinese leader Xi Jinping as “The Boss”.

The 63-year-old from Kent is also alleged to have tried to buy military hardware in the US for the People’s Liberation Army.

This included missile launchers, air defence radars and Black Hornet “microdrones” that can fly within feet of enemy soldiers and enter buildings to spy on troop positions.

Other equipment he attempted to purchase included a hand-held device approved by America’s National Security Agency for the secure communication of classified material.

Mr Miller also suggested smuggling a device by glueing it inside a food blender so it could then be “sent via DHL or Fedex to Hong Kong, according to US court papers.

The FBI said Mr Miller calling Xi “The Boss” showed his “awareness that he was acting at the direction and control of the [Chinese] government”.

He was arrested on April 24 after he was caught in a sting when the ‘arms dealers’ he was negotiating with turned out to be undercover FBI agents.

Mr Miller was on a business trip to Belgrade, Serbia, at the time and is still being held last night facing extradition to the US.

He is accused of conspiring with US-based Chinese national, Cui Guanghai, 43, and if convicted, both men face up to 40 years in prison.

Neighbours at his five-bedroom £1.5million home in Tunbridge Wells described him a “respectable family man”, according to the Mail on Sunday.

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TAIPEI, Taiwan  — Liu Jia-yen had been living in Taiwan for more than two decades when she received notice that she was suddenly at risk of being deported.

In April, the National Immigration Agency told Liu, a 51-year-old Chinese immigrant, she had three months to provide evidence that she gave up her household registration — an official record of residence that grants benefits such as healthcare and education — in Guangxi, China. If she couldn’t find the right documents, she’d have to leave.

Liu thought she’d submitted the files long ago and called her 26-year-old daughter, Ariel Ko, in tears.

Ko, who was born and raised in Taiwan, called the immigration agency dozens of times over the next few days, unable to reach an operator. Meanwhile in China, Liu’s 80-year-old grandfather began visiting his local police station in search of old records, and her brother scoured his government contacts for anyone who could help.

Taiwanese military cadets holding Taiwan flags pose for selfies after attending the New Year’s Day flag-raising ceremony outside the Presidential Palace in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan. 1. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has warned that no one can prevent China’s reunification with Taiwan.

(Daniel Ceng / Anadolu via Getty Images)

There are tens of thousands of Chinese-born people in Taiwan, which has been increasing scrutiny of them over the past year, citing concerns about infiltration and espionage. The immigration agency says the vast majority of Chinese living in Taiwan have filed the appropriate paperwork showing that they have canceled household registration in China, but about 12,000 people are facing a scramble — similar to Liu’s — for documents.

“I understand that the government has its policies, and we can respect that,” Ko said. “But what makes us upset is that we’re just ordinary citizens. If you’re going to ask us to do something this difficult, have you considered things from our perspective?”

China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and has threatened to take it by force, stepping up simulated attacks in recent years. Beijing has taken a particularly harsh stance against President Lai Ching-te, whom Chinese officials have called a “dangerous separatist” because he has promoted Taiwanese independence.

Concerns about spying in Taiwan and China date back to the Chinese civil war, after which the defeated Chinese Nationalist Party, or the Kuomintang, fled to Taiwan in 1949. Eventually, tensions began to ease as the two governments slowly resumed dialogue and cooperation over the next several decades. But in recent years, both China and Taiwan have been taking unprecedented actions in the name of national security.

Last year, China said it would ratchet up the punishment for advocates of Taiwanese independence, including imposing the death penalty. Lai, who took office a year ago and has called China a “foreign hostile force,” has proposed reinstating military trials for some espionage cases, criminalizing expressions of loyalty to China within the armed forces and tightening oversight of people traveling between China and Taiwan.

In March, three members of the Taiwanese presidential security team were convicted of spying for China. Taiwan also deported three Chinese immigrants for voicing their support online for unification through military action. Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency said this is the first time that spouses of Taiwanese citizens have had their residency revoked for such reasons. More than 140,000 Chinese immigrants hold residency in Taiwan because they are married to Taiwanese citizens.

Chinese influencer YAYA (Liu Zhenya) with a white hat and members of a NGO assisting her case hold a news conference, as she complies with Taiwan’s order to leave Taiwan after her residency was revoked for posting videos advocating “One China” and “Unification with China by Force” at Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 25, 2025.

(Daniel Ceng / Anadolu via Getty Images)

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said the records requirement has existed since 2004, and the recent notices were sent to ensure that those who want to stay in Taiwan can do so. But critics say that the sudden enforcement is unfair.

“It’s like our government has been asleep, like Sleeping Beauty, for 21 years. And now, all of a sudden, it wakes up and demands that Chinese spouses who’ve been living in Taiwan for so many years provide an important document from two decades ago,” said Chang Chi-kai, an opposition party legislator who is urging the administration to give Chinese spouses and their children more time.

After the public backlash, Taiwan announced additional exemptions for individuals with extenuating circumstances such as financial hardship, medical needs or safety concerns about traveling to China to search for records.

In Taiwan, people born in China are subject to different immigration laws than other nationalities. Milo Hsieh, founder of the consulting firm Safe Spaces in Taipei, says that distinction makes them more susceptible to discriminatory legal treatment, particularly in times of extreme political polarization.

“It resembles what I’m observing in the U.S. right now in Trump’s immigration crackdown, particularly on international students,” said Hsieh, referring to the hundreds of student protesters who have had their visas revoked. “They are deliberately targeting this class of individuals that are associated with a national security threat.”

Some frustrated residents say the bureaucratic bind is emblematic of long-standing discrimination.

Ko, who was born and raised in Taiwan, still remembers how her classmates used to tease her for having a mother from China, and would tell her to go back to the mainland. On social media, some were sympathetic to her mother’s struggle, while others told her to “save your fake tears,” or “if you want to be Taiwanese then follow our rules.”

Taiwan’s government has said that, according to its own polls conducted in March, more than 70% of respondents in Taiwan want officials to more thoroughly investigate whether Chinese immigrants here still hold residency or household registration in China, especially those who work in the military or public sector.

In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office in July 2022, Tsai Ing-wen, president at the time, is seen through glass on board a ship during military exercises.

(Shioro Lee / Associated Press)

“If China decides to start a war, then Taiwan needs to determine what to do in that situation,” said Fan Hsin-yu, an associate professor at National Taiwan University who specializes in immigration law. “First, it has to clarify who belongs to which side, who is the enemy, and who is one of us. That’s why this process is something they feel must be finalized soon.”

Fan said legal experts are divided on whether the government is justified in its recent documentation demands. She added that the measures may even be counterproductive, since China could simply issue certification to its spies or collaborators, while those who support Taiwanese sovereignty could put themselves at risk by going to China, or otherwise be forced to leave.

“The issue is not about legality, it’s about whether this is a smart move,” she said.

Chang and his family in China

(Courtesy of Chang Chih-yuan)

Chang Chih-yuan moved to Taichung, a city in central Taiwan, at age 4 and served in Taiwan’s military. He needs to secure documents to remain here but said he feels uneasy about providing all of his personal information — including his household registration history, physical ID card and travel permit — to the police station in Guangdong, China, where his family once lived.

Ultimately, he decided that he didn’t have much choice. His Chinese mother had received the immigration notice in April, and after many sleepless nights, she decided to take a month off from her cleaning job to obtain the certificate. When Chang, 34, inquired about his own paperwork, the immigration agency told him he would probably get a similar notice later this year.

“It just made me feel like I’m still not considered a real Taiwanese person,” he said.

A man walks past a hoisted Taiwanese flag at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei on Oct. 15, 2024. The day before, China insisted it would never renounce the “use of force” to take control of Taiwan, after ending a day of military drills around the island.

(I-Hwa Cheng / AFP via Getty Images)

Another resident who immigrated from China as a child said he has been considering emigrating to Singapore since he received his notice. His father traveled to China’s Fujian province to seek household documentation on his behalf, but he still worries that his mainland roots could put his status at risk again in the future.

“The situation now feels like they assume if you were born in China, you’re an ally of the Chinese Communist Party and you have to prove your innocence,” the 33-year-old said, requesting anonymity for fear that speaking publicly could affect his case. “I feel like I’ve been completely betrayed by my country.”

Times staff writer Yang and special correspondent Wu reported from Taipei, Taiwan.

Britain and Iran have summoned each others envoys after three Iranians were charged with spying in the UK.

The IRNA news agency said the British charge d’affaire was asked on Sunday to give an explanation for what it said was “unjustified” and “politically motivated” arrests.

On Monday, the Foreign Office responded by summoning Tehran’s ambassador to the UK following the charges.

Three Iranian men were arrested on 3 May and appeared in court in London on Saturday charged with spying for the Islamic republic.

It said the government “is clear that protecting national security remains our top priority and Iran must be held accountable for its actions”.

“The summons follows this weekend’s announcement which stated that three Iranian nationals had been charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service,” it added.

The alleged spying took place from August 2024 to February 2025, according to the Metropolitan Police.

Police identified them as Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, all living in London.

A fourth man was arrested on 9 May as part of the investigation, but has been released without charge, the Met said.

The three men, who arrived in the UK between 2016 and 2022, were granted temporary leave to remain after claiming asylum.

It is alleged they carried out surveillance with a view to locating journalists associated with Iran International.

Iran International produces coverage that is critical of the current regime in Iran and has been proscribed in Iran as a terrorist organisation.

“Iran must be held to account for its actions,” Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement following Saturday’s charges.

“We must also strengthen our powers to protect our national security as we will not tolerate growing state threats on our soil,” she added.

It comes as five other Iranian men were arrested on the same day in London, Swindon, Stockport, Rochdale and Manchester as part of a separate counter-terrorism investigation.

Four of the men – who had been held on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act – had been released from custody, although the investigation “remains active and is ongoing”, police said.

The fifth man was earlier bailed to an unspecified date in May.

May 17 (UPI) — Three Iranian men were charged with National Security Act violations for targeting U.K.-based journalists with “serious violence” during a Saturday court appearance.

Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, of London were charged in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the BBC reported.

Sepahvand also is charged with “surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research” while planning to commit “serious violence against a person in the U.K.”

The trio are London residents who have sought asylum and were arrested on May 3 for “engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service” from Aug. 14 to Feb. 16, CNN reported.

Iran’s foreign intelligence service is the one they are accused of assisting by allegedly surveilling and targeting journalists for Iran International, which is an independent media outlet based in London.

The three are Iranian citizens and entered the United Kingdom between 2016 and 2022.

Sepahvand hid inside a lorry when he arrived in 2016, while the other two arrived in small boats.

Each was granted temporary asylum shortly after arriving in the United Kingdom.

None of the three entered pleas during Saturday’s court hearing, and the three men have another court hearing scheduled on June 6 at the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court in London.