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(TS//SI) Back in Time: Taiwanese Off-Island Collection Sites
FROM: the Foreign Affairs Digest
Unknown
Run Date: 08/18/2006
(TS//SI) The Taiwanese operated collection sites in four countries on behalf of themselves and
the US.
(TS//SI) While it is not well known, the Taiwanese SIGINT services operated off-island collection
sites in support of US and Taiwanese interests for over two decades. Long a source of SIGINT for
NSA, the Chinese-targeted collection sites in Korea, Thailand, India, and before the war ended,
Vietnam, were becoming costly and difficult to manage by the early 1980s. Each required US Air
Force "black" flights to ferry site personnel to and from the countries, and though they provided
good intelligence, they were no longer paying their own way in terms of the intelligence yield.
(TS//SI) US monetary support for these was eliminated in 1983, and a one-time cash payment
of $600,000 was passed to the Taiwanese to compensate for the loss. The fear was that if
continuation of these efforts was compromised, it could have resulted in US political
embarrassment after the US-PRC accords were finalized, since these out-of-country activities
were being supported with US funds.
(TS//SI) The Taiwanese did continue to support the Korea site with their own funds for some
years thereafter.
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without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108