The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday condemned the intelligence authorities after allegations that they had been monitoring the party’s presidential candidate, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), saying President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should offer a clear explanation.
The Chinese-language Next Magazine yesterday reported that National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Hu Wei-chen (胡為真) had acted beyond his authority when he allegedly asked the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau to monitor Tsai in May.
Since Hu directly reports to Ma, who is seeking re-election as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate, Ma should explain whether he was aware of the illegal practice, Tsai said at a campaign stop in Kinmen.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
“The President of the [Republic of China] ROC exploited government agencies to collect information to benefit his election campaign ... He is apparently capitalizing on the state apparatus for his own benefit and will have to be held accountable,” Tsai said.
At a press conference in Taipei, DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) described the alleged practice as “Taiwan’s Watergate scandal,” as a president who is seeking re-election was suspected of abusing his power and ordering the intelligence authorities to monitor his opponents to benefit his election campaign.
According to the Next Magazine report, Weng Shih-tsan (翁詩燦), director of the NSC’s Secretariat, attended an intelligence meeting organized by the Investigation Bureau last week and took away information related to the presidential election, before submitting the information to Ma via Hu.
Photo: Lin Shu-hui, Taipei Times
The magazine’s report named 28 senior agents at the bureau, who it said were given the task of monitoring Tsai and submitting weekly reports on the times, locations and the attendees at Tsai’s campaign events.
The magazine said agents also made evaluations on the influence of local politicians or businesspeople who met with Tsai — KMT members and non-partisan representatives in particular — and predicted how many votes were at stake if they offered their support to Tsai.
It also cited an unidentified high-ranking official at the National Security Bureau (NSB) as saying that the NSC and Hu had ignored the intelligence system’s chain of command.
In response to the report, the NSC said that while it did send Weng to the meeting, he did not take any information away and no information had been submitted to Hu and Ma.
The NSB said in a press release that the NSC did not breach the chain of command.
The Investigation Bureau also denied the report. It said in a press release that it is one of the agencies responsible for the security of the presidential and vice presidential candidates, so naturally it knows about the candidates’ campaign activities. However, it said it does not get involved in the election, adding that while it analyzes and responds to the security situation, it does not offer the Presidential Office or the NSC candidates’ campaign information.
At a separate press conference, the DPP caucus criticized the alleged illegal monitoring.
On Dec. 23, 2008, Ma urged the Investigation Bureau’s agents to pledge loyalty to the country, the Constitution and the people, rather than the president or their superiors, DPP Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) said.
Ma also said during a presentation last week that he would withdraw from the election if he “had resorted to the state apparatus for political oppression of his opponents,” Lin added.
Lin said she wondered whether Ma dared to make the same pledge again now that it was clear that the NSC, which is in charge of formulation and coordination of national security and defense policy, has become an agency that collects domestic election information.
When approached by reporters during a visit to a market in Greater Taichung, Ma said he had no knowledge about Tsai’s campaign schedule and he simply said “no” when asked whether he had instructed the NSC to collect information on Tsai.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang and Mo Yan-chih
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from