A new report claims China's spy network inside Taiwan is ten to twenty times larger than Taiwan's own government believes — bad news for Taiwan's security agencies and a warning to Europe.

• German journalist and author Jürgen Kremb, who was followed by a Chinese agent while in Taiwan, puts the number of Chinese informants on the island at 50,000 to 100,000.
• Taiwan's own security bureau has estimated only about 5,000, a figure the report calls far too low.
• Inside China, 180,000 people work on Taiwan-related intelligence across the United Front department, the state security ministry, and the police.
• Most of these "spies" are not paid staff but ordinary people willing to pass along information or write reports when asked.
• The Chinese Communist Party itself, with over 110 million members who file regular reports to superiors, works as the largest intelligence network of all.

Outlook: Expect more pressure on Taiwan and European governments to build up detection and protection against cross-border intimidation, since fear that silences researchers and overseas communities is the real goal.