Liu Liankun (simplified Chinese: 刘连昆; traditional Chinese: 劉連昆) (20 January 1933 – 15 August 1999), was a major general (shaojiang) in the People's Liberation Army who provided the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan with secret intelligence about the status of missiles from the People's Republic of China (PRC). During the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1996, the ROC Ministry of National Defense notified the public that the missiles launched by the PRC actually carried unarmed warheads. This tipped off Beijing that Taipei had a high-level mole working on the mainland. Liu, a top Chinese military logistics officer, was arrested, court-martialed and executed in 1999.[1][2]

Liu Liankun
Born(1933-01-20)20 January 1933
Died15 August 1999(1999-08-15) (aged 66)
Cause of deathLethal injection
Citizenship People's Republic of China
Alma materPeople's Liberation Army Logistics Academy
Espionage activity
Allegiance Republic of China
Service branchPeople's Liberation Army General Logistics Department
Military Intelligence Bureau
Service years1947–1999
RankMajor general

The ROC's Military Intelligence Bureau confirmed that Liu was one of its spies in 2018.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Tung, Chen-yuan (3 March 2006). "PLA general helped prevent a war". Taipei Times. Translated by Svensson, Perry. p. 8. Retrieved 3 March 2006.
  2. ^ Kim, Benjamin Kang (14 September 1999). "China Executes Two For Spying for Taiwan". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  3. ^ Lo, Tien-pin; Chin, Jonathan (27 March 2018). "MIB memorial hall reopens after two-year renovation". Taipei Times. p. 3. The bureau also disclosed that Liu Liankun (劉連昆), a Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) major general, executed by Beijing in 1999 for espionage, was among the fallen honored at the shrine.