The Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau Deputy Director-General Cheng Ming-shun (鄭明順) yesterday said he will resign his post if the bureau hires any legislative aides to keep tabs on their bosses as part of a political-surveillance operation.
"I have been working for the bureau for 40 years. Today, I swear that the bureau would never do such a thing. If so, I would resign immediately," Cheng said at a press conference yesterday afternoon.
"A surveillance operation without any warrants from judges is illegal, no matter who the subject is. The bureau does not do illegal things," he said.
In response to TSU Legislator Chen Chien-ming's (
Chen said that these informants' main responsibility is to keep the bureau posted on their bosses' conduct for monthly rewards of NT$20,000 to NT$30,000.
He also said some legislative clerks and reporters also double as informants and even heavyweight DPP lawmakers are not spared from the watch list.
Chen said that the informants are taught how to open locked doors and drawers and other intelligence-gathering skills. He said the training, which lasts from seven to 30 days, takes place at the bureau's An-keng base in Taipei.
He also said the bureau spends more than NT$50 million a year to pay such informants, with the payments disguised as consultative and fact-finding expenses.
In the meantime, Cheng mentioned that four of the latest hired secret agents, who are still in their training courses, used to be legislative aides.
Cheng said that some of the bureau's female secret agents have been married to male legislative aides. As a result, it is possible that Chen's researcher gave him the wrong information or misled the lawmaker.
"They all became what they are today because they passed the national exam for secret agents. We did not know that these four trainees used to be legislative aides before they joined us. And also, even our employees have the right to choose the person they will marry, don't they? Do you call that spying? Don't you think it is an exaggeration?" Cheng asked.
In the meantime, while attending a regular legislative meeting yesterday morning, National Security Bureau Deputy Director-general Hu Chen-chiu (胡鎮球) also said that his bureau never sent any secret agents to the Legislative Yuan to keep tabs on lawmakers.
He explained that the bureau's main priorities are China and other foreign countries that are potential enemies of Taiwan.
"We never and will not do that to our own lawmakers," Hu said.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said he believed Cheng's remarks. But Wang said he would prefer to wait for the result of the investigation promised by the Ministry of Justice.
"I believe that there is no evidence to prove what has been alleged. In the meantime, we should ask our security officers to go through a check of the entire building regularly to see if any room is wired," Wang said.
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