Taipei prosecutors investigating the Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳) sex-VCD case said yesterday they found 10 hidden cameras and audio-recording devices installed in the female politician's apartment, former office and car.
In addition, investigators have retrieved a cassette tape and notebook from Kuo Yu-ling (郭玉鈴), who police suspect was behind the filming of a 40-minute sex video allegedly featuring Chu and her married lover.
Kuo, a "spiritual-growth" instructor and a former friend of Chu, was detained by prosecutors on Wednesday.
On Thursday, police searching Chu's Tamsui apartment found one camera and two audio-recording devices in her living room. They also found a camera in Chu's bedroom that wasn't discovered during an initial search.
Two more cameras and audio-recording devices were found in Chu's car.
At Chu's former office at Hsinchu's Cultural Affairs Bureau, investigators located two audio recorders. They earlier had found cables attached to a computer that may have been connected to a video or audio-recording device.
Also, police suspect Chu's cellphone may contain an eavesdropping device.
Prosecutors searching Kuo's apartment on Thursday turned up 26 blank cassette tapes and a notebook containing names and telephone numbers.
In addition, officials at the Taipei Detention House, where Kuo is being held, recovered a recorded cassette tape from the suspect's purse.
It is not yet known what is on the tape.
According to prosecutors, Kuo said she bought 30 blank cassette tapes in Hsinchu for possible "litigation reasons." Four of the tapes are missing, and police are seeking their whereabouts.
Kuo hasn't said where the four tapes are located.
Investigators yesterday also refused to say what was contained in Kuo's notebook.
But they said that based on its contents, they may need to question Tsai Jen-chien (
According to prosecutors, Tsai and Kuo visited a private detective agency together to inquire about hidden cameras.
Kuo concedes she installed a pinhole camera in Chu's apartment, but she said she did so at her former friend's request.
Tsai has avoided reporters in recent days. Lin Cheng-chieh (
Meanwhile, two Taipei City councilors -- the KMT's Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) and the DPP's Yen Sheng-kuan (顏聖冠) -- have urged the city government yesterday to crack down on hidden cameras that may be installed in public restrooms and fitting rooms.
"While authorities are investigating the Chu case, many female individuals are being filmed by hidden cameras," Lin said.
Yen said her office had received e-mails containing photos of women using public restrooms at a shopping mall. She said the photos highlight the problem of hidden cameras.
"The images captured by hidden cameras in public restrooms have been circulating on the Internet," Yen said. "This not only invades women's privacy but also violates women's rights. We hope the city government will look into the problem more seriously."
The city councilors said the restrooms of all restaurants, hotels, department stores, shopping malls and parks in Taipei should be checked for hidden cameras.
They also suggested establishing a database of people who have purchased cameras.
A city government representative said Taipei has already writen regulations governing public restrooms, but are waiting to be passed by the city council.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary