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.
National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday said it disqualified a person from an entrance examination for using AI smart glasses to cheat, along with two others for making untruthful statements in their curriculum vitae. The three applicants were given null scores, Taiwan’s highest-ranked university said, calling on prospective students to be honest in the admissions process. NTU registrar Lee Hung-sen (李宏森) said that the cheating applicant wore a hat and thick-rimmed glasses to the second written exam for medical school, claiming that they felt cold. Suspicions were aroused when the applicant stared oddly at the test for long stretches while steadily bringing the paper
MILITARY ISSUES: A partisan divide between the Cabinet and the legislature ‘raised questions about Taiwan’s ability to adequately fund its defense,’ the report said Taiwan’s defense budget, military personnel numbers and resilience are challenges to its ability to meet national defense goals, the US Naval Institute said in a report published on Tuesday. In response to the perception of a growing military threat posed by China, Taiwan has embarked on an effort to enhance the capabilities needed to deter an attempt by Beijing to annex the nation by force, the institute said in the US Congressional Research Service report, titled Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues, which was filed on Thursday last week. Taiwan’s defense budget increased by about 7.5 percent from 2024 to last year, it
NOT JUST NUMBERS: What matters to intelligence work is crucial, reliable information, so even a few credible leads can be highly valuable to national security, a legislator said The National Security Bureau (NSB) yesterday said it has finished the establishment of an information-reporting channel for Chinese nationals, the aim of which is to broaden intelligence gathering on China’s political, military, economic and social developments. Chinese nationals can submit information on the Web page, https://report.nsb.gov.tw, the NSB said in a statement. The move aims to expand the bureau’s diverse intelligence sources and is pursuant to the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), it said, adding that it referenced practices adopted by intelligence agencies in the US, the UK and Israel. An increasing number of people are approaching Taiwanese agencies to provide information, as
66 FIGHTER JETS: The aircraft is likely undergoing preparations for its transfer to Taiwan — a significant step forward in the nation’s modernization program, a lawmaker said The first of Taiwan’s order of F-16V Block 70 aircraft has been sighted in Texas ahead of delivery, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said. Taiwan’s first F-16V Block 70 two-seat aircraft, tail number 6831, was seen flying from Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Greenville, South Carolina, to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas, Wang wrote on Facebook yesterday. The plane is likely undergoing preparations for its transfer to Taiwan, marking a significant step forward in the Republic of China Air Force’s modernization program, Wang said, citing military analysts. The F-16V Block 70 is a new-build version