Wo Weihan convicted of espionage, executed

Global Times
December 4, 2008

Global Times, the jingoistic sister newspaper of the People’s Daily, ran a cover story on Wo Weihan (沃维汉), who was convicted of espionage and executed last Friday.

Here’s the newspaper’s story of his life:

Wo was born in 1948 in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province. He was part of the country’s first class to go to college after the entrance examinations were resumed in 1977. In 1981, he graduated from the medical department of Harbin University and went to the Chinese Academy of Sciences for graduate studies, and worked there as an assistant researcher until he was sent on scholarship to Munich, Germany for doctorate studies in 1987.

When he received his degree in 1991, Wo didn’t return to China, nor did he continue his medical studies. He went to Austria to do business. His wife, who later divorced him, and their two daughters all obtained Austrian citizenship and lived there. From the early 1990s, Wo, who carried a Chinese passport, started shuttling between mainland China and Europe.

During the time he was studying in Germany, an financially-strapped Wo mingled with “democracy activists.” He was later introduced to the Taiwan Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) in October, 1989, by an activist named Fei Liangyong (费良勇). Wo was recruited as a Taiwan spy code-named “Yang Dong.” He received a salary of US$1,000 per month, along with espionage equipment: a laptop, digital camera, and a scanner. Wo’s financial situation improved, but he had embarked on a road of no return.

Wo started to develop his intelligence network in the mainland, gathering information on politics, economic, and the military. In order to have complete control over him, the MIB spent US$300,000 to help Wo’s second wife, Chen Shukun (陈淑坤), open a restaurant in Austria.

Wo Weihan on his website

Wo was active in the mainland from the early 90s and occasionally had intelligence finds, including information about the PLA’s night vision equipment. He also briefed Taiwan about his contacts. As a cover for his spying activities, Wo registered a medical company and gave himself the title of “chief scientist,” leading him to be portrayed in the Western media as a “medical researcher” and “scientist.” In fact, Wo was neither a scientist nor a real businessman: he was a genuine undercover agent.

Guo Wanjun (郭万钧), born in 1942, graduated from the physics department of Nankai University. An high achiever in his studies, Guo later became an expert on missile technology. He was a distant relative of Wo. In the early 90s, Guo was introduced to Wo at a relative’s wedding and the two became acquainted. Wo, with his own agenda, was very friendly toward Guo, who was very impressed by the image of a successful man that he cultivated.

Wo baited Guo by telling him that information about missiles is very valuable. From the mid-90s on, Guo became increasingly bold and continued to hand information about China’s strategic missiles to Wo even after realizing that he was working for overseas intelligence. In order to give him a better understanding about missiles, Guo taught Wo from the basics, which Wo carefully recorded in notebooks. The notebooks were handed to the Taiwan MIB, which turned over most of the information to the United States.

According to Wo’s confession, Taiwan set up a team to process the intelligence he obtained. Based on Wo’s intelligence, a list of questions would be sent to him to for further inquiry.

The court established that Guo revealed seven pieces of confidential information to Wo, for which he was given tens of thousands of US dollars and a watch. On May 24, 2007, the Beijing’s Second Intermediate Court ruled sentenced Wo and Guo to death. On January 29, 2008, the two lost on appeal. They were both executed on November 28, 2008.

The article ended by highlighting the importance of long-range missiles to state security and criticized the West’s hypocrisy of using human rights as a cover for ulterior motives.

Of course, “human rights” and “family visitation” sound nice….strategic missiles are the most important long range deterrent and, needless to say, they are very important to China’s security. The real purpose of those countries is their own self-interest, and to show that they have fulfilled their responsibility to a spy. It’s just that this couldn’t be expressed openly.