A German reporter says he was followed by a Chinese agent while travelling in Taiwan, and his message is that giving in to fear is exactly what Beijing wants — a warning that lands as much on Europe as on Taipei.

• Jürgen Kremb, a veteran German journalist and author, was approached by a woman who asked him to take her photo during a trip to Alishan last year.
• Her northern Chinese accent and her story about living in Denmark did not add up, and she started making a phone call as he walked back to his hotel.
• Taiwanese investigators pulled hotel security footage and confirmed she was a Chinese agent, catching her hiding behind a car and peering around a street corner.
• She had already left Taiwan by the time German and Danish intelligence were told.
• Kremb's point: Chinese agents are all over Taiwan, and the goal of that surveillance is to plant fear rather than to collect much of anything.

This came out alongside his research report on how Chinese intelligence has worked its way into Taiwan and what that means for Europe, presented in Taipei with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the European Values Center for Security Policy.

Outlook: Expect more attention in Europe to Chinese intelligence operations in Taiwan as a preview of what its own countries face.