his home. The agent knew Chang's family being under the witness program, therefore secretly contacted a journalist to knock on their house door for interview without notification, which shocked the family. They were moved away overnight, and US authority dispelled the agent to return to Taiwan. Taiwan's Ministry of Defence denied that Chang had been a CIA informant. Its retired Chief of General Staff (1981-1989), General Hau Pei-tsun, claimed that for more than a decade previously, Taiwan already had the potential to develop nuclear weapons. A former member of President Lee Teng-hui's national security team, Chang Jung-feng, has described Chang's actions as a 'betrayal'. The CIA has refused to discuss Chang's defection. James R. Lilley, who served as CIA station chief in Beijing, said the case should be 'publicly acknowledged as a success'. Chang is quoted in The Taipei Times as saying that he was "...motivated by fears that his research into nuclear weapons would be used by 'politically ambitious' people who would harm Taiwan." Nuclear energy in Taiwan Taiwan uses nuclear power for some of its electricity generation, but since 1988, its official position has been that it will not develop nuclear weapons. Were it to do so, China has said it would be 'a legitimate reason' to launch an attack on the island. See also Taiwan and weapons of mass destruction References Living people Republic of China Army 1943 births Taiwanese people from Hainan People from Haikou Taiwanese defectors Defectors to the United States Nuclear weapons program of the Republic of China