All activities aimed at harming the Chinese mainland will be punished, said a Chinese mainland official in Beijing on Wednesday, in response to a question from a Taiwanese journalist about the alleged detention of a Taiwanese person by the Chinese mainland authorities on Internet spy charges.

Spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council Yang Yi said Taiwan's intelligence agencies have been spying on mainland China on a large scale through the Internet over the past few years, which "has resulted in serious consequences."

He said "any activities which have caused damage to the Chinese mainland will be investigated and punished by law."

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2007)