http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/16/politics/16spy.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position=State Dept. Official Arrested in Inquiry on Taiwan Contact
By ERIC LICHTBLAU and DAVID E. SANGER
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 - A longtime Foreign Service officer at the State Department, who until recently was a ranking official on East Asian affairs, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with concealing a trip to Taiwan, and is suspected of improperly passing documents to Taiwanese intelligence agents, law enforcement and intelligence officials said.
The diplomat, Donald W. Keyser, appeared in federal court in Alexandria, Va., and was charged with making a false statement to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in a government background check.
A career foreign service officer, Mr. Keyser was a top advisor on China to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell before resigning abruptly several weeks ago in the face of accusations that he had passed information to the Taiwanese, officials said.
F.B.I. agents in the bureau's Washington field office are investigating the case as possible espionage, but officials would not characterize the seriousness of the investigation. "The allegation is what it is - a case of making a false statement to the F.B.I.- and that's all we can say," said a Justice Department official speaking on condition of anonymity.
The State Department declined comment on the case because of the ongoing criminal investigation. A spokesman noted that Mr. Keyser is currently assigned to the Foreign Service Institute, a department training branch. Mr. Keyer is alleged to have met with a Taiwanese intelligence agent in Tapei last year during an official trip to China and Japan, officials said. He did not disclose the meeting as required during a background check and was the subject of an F.B.I. surveillance operation as a result, officials said.
*******
Holy shit.
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