Two weeks ago, the Norwegian in his 30s was arrested at Oslo Airport, on his way home from a trip to China. PST has charged him with attempted gross intelligence activities for the benefit of China. The accused is said to have been interested in information about Taiwanese affairs, several sources tell news. Taiwanese military in the streets of Kinmen in connection with a large Chinese military exercise in the surrounding areas in May this year. Photo: I-HWA CHENG / AFP A person who has done work for his company, and who lives in Spain, tells news that he was apparently looking for secret information about Taiwan. – He wanted something that was not publicly available. That was the impression I got, the person claims to news. China considers the self-governing island of Taiwan to be Chinese territory, and regularly holds large military exercises in the surrounding sea areas. – It will be of great interest to Beijing, says Tom Røseth at the Norwegian Armed Forces College of Information on Taiwanese affairs. The “push” for exclusivity Taiwan has been dubbed by The Economist, among others, as “the world’s most dangerous place”. Experts fear that it is in Taiwan that a possible third world war could break out. Chinese authorities therefore believe that Taiwan belongs to them, and have said that they will be able to take the areas by military force. Chinese military ship around Taiwan in May this year. China then held a large military exercise. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP Last May, China held a massive military exercise around Taiwan. China sent out dozens of fighter jets and practiced missile strikes. As news has previously mentioned, the accused spy ran a company in Norway whose purpose was, among other things, to conduct analysis of international and geopolitical affairs. It was for this company that the person living in Spain wrote two texts. The person came across a job ad from the spy accused on a website a year and a half ago, seeking freelancers to write geopolitical content. The two talked about working together, but because the Spanish resident felt that the Norwegian had no specific order, nothing came of the writing job at first, according to the person concerned. Taiwan is located off the southern coast of China. It was only when the two met in Spain late last summer that the accused spy asked for texts with non-public information about Taiwan, according to the person news has spoken to. – I was honest and said that I am no expert. He didn’t care, and “pushed” for exclusivity. I can’t ask my old contacts for exclusive information. But he “pushed” on it. news has spoken to another person who also claims to have been contacted by the person accused of spying with the wish to have texts about Taiwan delivered. It must have been the same what the topic was, as long as it was about Taiwan, says this source. Claimed Foreign Ministry should pay The Spain resident denies having written classified information in the texts, and says they only dealt with “normal geopolitics” about China and Taiwan. – I wrote three texts. He didn’t pay for the last one and I got less than agreed for the other two. It was supposed to be 500 dollars per text, but I ended up getting 600 in total, says the Spain resident. According to the source, the accused spy explained that the texts were not approved by the client, which he allegedly claimed was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Norway. – He said he was sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and that they decided. He said the texts were not approved by the ministry, according to the source. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide was deputy to the board of the same Ap local team as the accused spy. Oslo Ap has stated that the accused and Barth Eide have not been together at board meetings. Photo: Johanna Hauge Several other sources have told news that the accused spy also claimed to them to receive support from the Foreign Ministry in Norway. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies having had any cooperation with the man accused of being a spy. – We have found no trace of either the company or the person in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ and Norad’s grant management systems. Nor have we found the person or company in our accounts or supplier register, says communications advisor Mariken Bruusgaard Harbitz to news. news has previously mentioned that the accused spy asked for meetings with both the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Defence. There were no meetings with any of the ministries. The source in Spain says contact with the accused was broken when no payment was received for the last text. – I was cursed and did not want to talk to him again. Taiwan central to China Tom Røseth is head teacher in intelligence at the Norwegian Defense Academy. He believes the Chinese authorities will be very interested in information about Taiwan. – It will of course be very interesting for the Chinese side. Maybe they get something confirmed, or information they haven’t had before from sources or actors they haven’t heard from, says Røseth to news. Tom Røseth at Forsvarets høgskole says information about Taiwan is likely to be of great interest to Chinese intelligence. Photo: Ingvild Vik He says all types of information are probably relevant to China. He says questions such as who are the opponents and supporters of China in the issue of Taiwanese, what security policy considerations China should take and what scenarios China should be prepared for, are important for China to get answers to. – This is one of the most important factors in Chinese politics, and therefore it will be hugely important for the intelligence service in China to deliver on it, provide decision support and reduce uncertainty around Taiwan, says Røseth. Supposed to have used a false identity The Spain resident also discovered that the accused spy had not used his real name in the job advertisement. The accused explained that it was for security reasons, according to the Spain resident. news has spoken to others who also say they were contacted by the accused spy under a false identity. news has presented the allegations in this case to the accused’s defender, Marius Dietrichson. He does not wish to comment on the information, but has previously said that his client denies criminal guilt. – I am prevented from commenting. The accused is in custody on restrictions, and has no opportunity to communicate, says Dietrichson to news. PST does not wish to comment on the specific information in this case. Senior adviser Eirik Veum has previously confirmed to news that the accused did not want to be questioned by PST. Published 18.07.2024, at 12.23
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The spy agency must have requested closed information about “the world’s most dangerous place” – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
