In 1949, with the defeat of the Kuomintang and its flight to Taiwan, the newly formed People's Republic of China ushered in a new political situation. For the Communist Party, which has just gained a firm foothold, Taiwan is not only a lost piece of territory, but also an important chess game for future reunification.
Against this backdrop, the party has set up a secret network in Taiwan, among which there are many brave party members, one of whom is Li Zhihao.
Initiating Mission: Reasons for being chosen
Li Zhihao's days in the Guangzhou Garrison were always full of tension and busyness. Every day, starting from a morning run before dawn to a late-night strategy study, he exercises his body and mind almost all the time. Lee excelled in these trainings, often leading the team in shooting, and often excelling in combat training.
In addition to the training of physical fitness and combat skills, political learning is also a very important part of the daily life of the garrison. Team members need to study the party's history, theories, and current policy directions to ensure that everyone is ideologically aligned with the party. Just when Li Zhihao was about to be promoted to squad leader, a turning point happened.
One night, after a routine political study, he was urgently summoned to the conference room of the team headquarters. When he entered the conference room, he saw that in addition to his immediate superior, there were several uncommon high-ranking military officers present. The officers' epaulettes were significantly higher than most of the people in the room, and he instantly realized that the ensuing discussion was not trivial.
At the beginning of the meeting, a lieutenant general officer went straight to the point, indicating the organization's high recognition of Li Zhihao and his expectations for his future potential. The lieutenant general revealed that the organization needs a reliable person to carry out a very important and extremely dangerous task, which is related to the security of the country and the future of the party.
What they need is a party member who is not only physically superior, but also able to keep strict secrets. Li Zhihao listened to the lieutenant general's words, although he did not show any emotion, but his heart was indeed shocked by this sudden and important task.
At this time, his immediate supervisor also joined the conversation, detailing the background of the mission: the country is at a special historical stage, cross-strait relations are becoming increasingly tense, and the organization urgently needs to establish a reliable intelligence network in the Taiwan region to better grasp the movements and intentions of the other side.
Subsequently, they explained to Li Zhihao the specifics of the mission: he would be secretly sent to Hong Kong, from where he would serve as a springboard to infiltrate further into Taiwan. There, he needed to establish his own cover identity, gradually reaching out to and infiltrating Taiwan's military and intelligence agencies.
They stressed the danger of the mission, which could be life-threatening, but vital to the interests of the country and the party. This sudden meeting finally decided the fate of Li Zhihao. He was told that over the next few weeks, he would receive a series of more special training, including intelligence gathering, secret communication, and skills in how to survive behind enemy lines.
In addition, there is training on how to maintain mental stability in a high-pressure environment. At the end of the meeting, Li Zhihao was asked to keep it absolutely secret, and even his family could not reveal any information. As the meeting ended, Li Zhihao walked out of the conference room, and the camp was unusually quiet in the middle of the night. He knew that his life would be turned upside down from tonight onwards.
Infiltrate Hong Kong: Turn around and become a businessman
After accepting a new assignment, Li Zhihao was soon secretly transferred to a hidden training base in the suburbs. Here, he began a series of training courses specifically tailored to him to prepare him for his entry into Hong Kong and subsequent undercover missions in Taiwan.
The training includes language skills, especially speaking and listening training in Cantonese and English, as well as cultural background knowledge of Hong Kong and Taiwan, so that he can better integrate into the local society without arousing suspicion. In addition, Li Zhihao also received in-depth training in intelligence gathering and transmission.
He learned how to collect information securely, including the use of covert cameras and listening devices, and how to securely transmit information back through secret channels. He was also trained to maintain his composure under high pressure, conduct counter-surveillance and escape tracking, all skills that are critical to activities behind enemy lines.
After months of intense training, Lee was secretly sent to Hong Kong. His new identity is a Hong Kong businessman with a fictional background, including a family with years of living in Hong Kong and a failed business journey.
In order to establish the authenticity of this identity, he "worked" for a small trading company in Hong Kong, which was actually a front-line cover organization controlled by us. During his time in Hong Kong, Lee frequently attended business gatherings and social events as a way to expand his social network. He paid special attention to businessmen who might have ties to Taiwan and members of Taiwanese chambers of commerce in Hong Kong.
A few weeks later, Mr. Lee began reaching out to more business people from Taiwan. He deliberately displays an extreme thirst for wealth, as well as dissatisfaction with his current life, which makes him look like an ideal candidate who could be recruited as a spy. In his interactions with these Taiwanese, he carefully planned every meeting and conversation, ensuring that his words and actions were in keeping with his status as a down-and-out businessman.
Finally, Mr. Lee's performance caught the attention of a Taiwanese intelligence officer. The intelligence officer first approached Mr. Lee in the name of business cooperation, and then gradually introduced more sensitive topics. After several meetings, the Taiwan intelligence officer tentatively asked Li Zhihao whether he was willing to provide some "simple information" for "improving the quality of life."
Li Zhihao showed hesitation and concern, which was exactly how he should have reacted as planned. Over time, the Taiwanese intelligence officer's relationship with Li Zhihao gradually deepened. Li Zhihao has become a resource that can be used in the eyes of the other party. The other side finally made a request for Li Zhihao to work for Taiwan's intelligence agencies and collect political and economic intelligence on Chinese mainland.
Li Zhihao pretended to reluctantly accept this proposal after a long period of consideration, and thus officially became an "intelligence agent" of Taiwan's intelligence agency, but in fact he was a double agent who went deep behind enemy lines to collect and transmit key information for our side.
Intelligence Exchange: A Hidden Front
After successfully integrating into Taiwan's intelligence network and working secretly as an "intelligence agent," Lee Chi-ho began a more critical phase of his mission. His main job is to deeply probe and transmit information about Taiwan's military and political dynamics. As a result of his performance in Taiwan's intelligence agencies and the quality of information provided, he gradually gained more trust and a higher level of assignment.
The Taiwanese side arranged for Mr. Lee to participate in a series of internal meetings and briefings, during which he was exposed to a lot of sensitive information. He must ensure that this information is collected while maintaining the credibility of his disguised identity. After each meeting, Li Zhihao carefully encrypts the information he collects and sends it back to the mainland through a secure channel.
Over time, Lee was assigned to more critical projects involving Taiwan's defense strategy and military layout. Through his efforts, the mainland side was able to more accurately assess Taiwan's military preparations and strategic intentions. In doing so, he demonstrated great professionalism and care, ensuring that every message was transmitted undetected by the enemy.
During this period, Li Zhihao was also arranged to communicate with intelligence officers from other countries. These exchanges, which usually take place in a highly confidential environment, are designed to exchange views and data on intelligence about the respective regions of interest. In these exchanges, Li Zhihao must be very careful not only to obtain information from the other side, but also to ensure that he does not leak key mainland intelligence.
At one point, Lee Chi-ho obtained information about a secret plan for Taiwan to cooperate with a foreign intelligence agency. This information is extremely important to the continent and involves possible military-technical exchanges and intelligence-sharing. Li Zhihao quickly encrypted this information and sent it back to the mainland through a specific secure route.
After completing a number of such tasks, Lee's status in Taiwan's intelligence agencies has been further enhanced. He was introduced to more core strategic discussions and played an important role in some of the key decisions. Although he was only an "intelligence officer", the information he provided often had an indirect impact on the decision-making of the Taiwanese side.
Qiandao Lake incident
In the early 90s, with the gradual thawing of cross-strait relations, veterans from Taiwan crossed the sea to the mainland in an endless stream to seek their roots. During this period, cross-strait economic and cultural exchanges also became active. In 1994, 24 Taiwanese tourists were on a cruise ship called "Hai Rui" on Qiandao Lake in Zhejiang Province, which was supposed to enjoy a period of tranquility in the lake and mountains.
However, the trip suddenly fell into a disaster. A group of robbers quietly boarded the ship and not only ransacked it, but set fire to the "Hai Rui" before leaving, brutally taking the lives of everyone on board – including 24 Taiwanese tourists and eight mainland crew members and tour guides.
This incident quickly detonated public opinion on both sides of the strait. The Zhejiang police quickly intervened in the investigation, while the Taiwanese side was furious, sharply criticizing the mainland's security management and even trying to intervene in the investigation process, appearing rather dissatisfied. In this tense atmosphere, Li Zhihao saw the opportunity. With the support of the mainland's National Security Bureau, he began to provide Taiwan with so-called "inside information".
The accurate and timely information provided by Li Zhihao made him quickly appreciated by Taiwan's intelligence department, and he was even personally received by Dawei Dawei, deputy director of the Sixth Division of Taiwan's intelligence department, and awarded the rank of major.
In the years that followed, Li Zhihao maintained his activities in Hong Kong, Guangzhou and other places as a businessman, and occasionally flew to Taiwan to report to Dawei. He continues to provide intelligence to Taiwan, although most of the time it is inconsequential, sometimes deliberately outdated.
For safety reasons, our personnel usually avoid direct contact with him and only meet him when they have an important mission.
The Way Home and Prison: The End and the Beginning
In 1996, the organization contacted Li Zhihao again and gave him a new and important task - to discover Taiwanese spies who might be lurking within our party. In order to carry out this task, Li Zhihao began to pay close attention to his interaction with the deputy director of the Sixth Division of Taiwan's intelligence service, Dawei Wei.
In a scheduled meeting, Dawei revealed to Mr. Li that he was extremely concerned about military movements on the mainland, and hinted at the desire for more inside information. Soon after this meeting, Dawei ordered Li Zhihao to contact a man named Yang Mingzhong and deliver a batch of key materials.
Li Zhihao found Yang Mingzhong as instructed. In a hidden café, he handed Yang a seemingly ordinary folder. During the handover, Li Zhihao noticed Yang Mingzhong's nervousness and vigilance, and it seemed that he was going to meet with another person after the meeting. This detail caught Li Zhihao's attention, and he decided to secretly follow Yang Mingzhong to see if he could find more clues.
During the tracking, Li Zhihao saw Yang Mingzhong meet with a tall, serious-looking man. Through a series of reconnaissance and information gathering, Li Zhihao learned that the man was Liu Liankun, a senior officer of our army. Through further observation and information gathering, Li Zhihao discovered that Liu Liankun had unusual connections with Taiwan's intelligence services, which aroused his high alarm.
Li Zhihao promptly reported this information to the organization, and immediately launched an in-depth investigation of Liu Liankun and his colleague Shao Zhengzong. After several months of secret surveillance and information gathering, the results of the investigation showed that the two men did indeed have close contacts with Taiwan's intelligence agencies, and they transmitted sensitive information about our military through various covert methods.
After learning of all this, our side quickly took action, arrested Liu Liankun and Shao Zhengzong, and conducted a legal trial based on the facts of their crimes. The two were soon convicted of felony crimes and sentenced to death in accordance with the law. At the same time, Yang Mingzhong, who was in charge of liaising with Mr. Liu, was arrested while trying to flee back to Taiwan, preventing more possible information leaks.
However, Li Zhihao's outstanding performance in the mission eventually attracted the attention and suspicion of Taiwan's intelligence services. Soon after, Li Zhihao was arrested by the Taiwanese side during an operation, thus ending his years of incubation and beginning a long prison life.
After a decades-long career as a espionage, Li was finally able to return to his home continent in 2015. That year, the Taiwan side offered to exchange arrested intelligence officers on both sides of the strait.
Recalling the day he left, Li Zhihao was a young man full of vigor, wearing a military uniform, full of passion, and vowing to be loyal to the country. Now, when he sets foot on the land of his motherland, he is a 75-year-old man, with faltering steps and gray hair.
Resources:
Double spy Li Zhihao will be released from prison and has been lurking in Taiwan's "Military Intelligence Bureau" for more than 10 years.Phoenix Information.2015-10-12
Taiwan's Intelligence Warfare Against the Mainland-Digest-Guangming.Guangming.2015-12-12
The most famous "double-sided spy" is about to be released into a dormant Taiwan for 10 years.百战军网.2015-10-12