Reports quoted Chinese authorities accusing Taiwanese spy agencies of spying in order to steal information and infiltrate and sabotage the mainland.

Airing a programme on television, authorities said that Taiwanese spies use Chinese students studying in Taiwan to siphon the information.

It said that these students are lured in after the spies befriend them or offer them huge sums of cash.

Meanwhile, Beijing has increased its efforts to encourage Taiwanese citizens to settle in China permanently.

Warning its citizens about the dangers involved in moving permanently to an 'autocratic' country, Taiwan has urged them to think how it would feel to live in a place with censored internet and other restrictions.

Both China and Taiwan, in the past too have exchanged such accusations.

Last year, Taiwanese authorities jailed a Chinese student studying in Taiwan, after the said person was found guilty of trying to gather sensitive information through contacts in government departments.

The convict was also found guilty of trying to build a spy network in the island nation.

China, which does not recognise Taiwan as a democratic nation, has forced most countries, including the few, if not all, who recognised Taiwan's sovereignty, to rename the state as Chinese Taipei.

Image: Wallpaper