The Chinese-language media reported yesterday that an unidentified person contacted prosecutors on Tuesday, claiming that a politician from Hsinchu was behind the recent sex VCD scandal.
Suspect Kuo Yu-ling (
The man was questioned by prosecutors afterward and the results led to Kuo being summoned a second time and later detained, the report said.
Prosecutors at the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office denied the report.
Kuo, a "spiritual growth" instructor with a US-based group named Avatar, was detained yesterday on suspicion of involvement in the creation and release of a secretly recorded VCD allegedly depicting a sexual encounter between Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳), the former director of Hsinchu's Cultural Affairs Bureau, and married businessman Tseng Chung-ming (曾仲銘).
Kuo, a close friend of Chu, is believed to have had a falling out with Chu in August. The cause of the soured friendship is still unclear, although local media speculation has suggested a financial dispute and a love triangle.
Kuo, who had the keys to Chu's house in Tamsui, did not return them to Chu until September, the report said.
A detective agency has confirmed with prosecutors that Kuo had bought a pinhole camera and had it installed at Chu's house, the report said.
Investigators suspect Kuo may have installed the pinhole camera as early as July of this year, according to the report. The camera has apparently been removed since then and investigators are still looking into how and where the camera was installed in Chu's bedroom.
Kuo had also taken security tapes out of Chu's apartment complex twice in July, the report said.
Chu is also a former girlfriend of Hsinchu's former DPP mayor Tsai Jen-chien (
On Dec. 1, Tsai lost his re-election bid and Chu lost her legislative bid to represent the New Party in the Taichung constituency.
Meanwhile, the Hsinchu City Government was hit by fallout from the scandal after newly inaugurated KMT Mayor Lin Jeng-jzer (林政則) said the city's anti-corruption department was preparing a report into alleged irregularities in the creation of a special budget for "spiritual growth" courses for city officials while Tsai was in office.
Chu was one of the officials who attended Avatar classes taught by Kuo.
Lin also hinted that the courses were pushed through by a former high-level city official, adding that neither Chu nor Tsai was the official in question.
Lin appeared to be pointing the finger at former deputy mayor Lin Cheng-chieh (
The new Hsinchu mayor did not elaborate on how spending on the spiritual growth course violated regulations, but said the city government will not require its officials to attend any more spiritual courses.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he