Adversary Intelligence — 2026-04-29

Report Reveals MSS Bureau 9 Monitors Vatican Activities in Taiwan as Espionage Vector

An April 27 analysis by Modern Diplomacy detailed how China's Ministry of State Security Bureau 9, responsible for counterintelligence operations targeting foreign entities inside China and in contested territories, has been actively monitoring Vatican diplomatic and religious activities in Taiwan. The report describes MSS's use of Vatican-linked cultural and academic exchanges as intelligence collection opportunities, tracking meetings and financial flows between Vatican representatives and Taiwanese counterparts.

Analysis
Per a single uncorroborated Modern Diplomacy analysis, MSS Bureau 9 is treating Vatican-Taiwan ties as an access point into Taiwan's political networks. The Holy See's rare formal relationship with a government Beijing contests provides natural cover for using clerical and academic exchanges to track meetings and financial flows. The channel likely serves dual purposes: collecting on Taiwan's diplomatic thinking and surveilling Chinese Catholics who maintain cross-strait contacts through church networks. Beijing's primary aim may instead be domestic counterintelligence against the Catholic diaspora, with Taiwan access a secondary dividend. Taiwan's National Security Bureau is unlikely, within 12 months, to publicly acknowledge MSS penetration of religious channels; naming Vatican-linked actors carries diplomatic costs NSB has historically managed through quiet disruption.

1 sources

The role of the Bureau 9 of the Chinese MSS in monitoring Vatican activities in Taiwan - Modern Diplomacy