Taiwan's intelligence bureau says China's main spy agency is working with criminal gangs, shell companies and other dubious partners to gain intelligence on Taiwan's defences, resulting in a major rise in those arrested for alleged espionage on the island. Current and retired Taiwanese military personnel are a special concern, accounting for around half of the 64 alleged spies put on trial last year, it said. That number is up from 16 in 2021 and 10 in 2022. The arrests are in line with China's stepped-up campaign of military intimidation, economic coercion and gray area tactics such as utilizing the internet to promote unification and providing all-expense-paid trips to China to low-level government officials. According to a report released over the weekend by Taiwan's National Security Bureau, Chinese agents have sought to use the Taiwanese underworld to channel funds to those with information to sell. Gangs, many with origins dating to before the 1949 split between the two sides,