Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
"Political surveillance does not exist anymore because a direct order from the president banned it," the minister said.
"These days, we only keep tabs on certain people who have allegedly broken the law," he said.
"In addition, we only conduct necessary surveillance on these suspects, which means we do not begin the process before we have sufficient evidence against them," he added.
Chen Ding-nan made his remarks in response to a question from People First Party Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) during a meeting of the legislature's Judicial Committee.
Sun complained that the Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Bureau had been investigating the pan-blue camp's presidential campaign ever since the beginning of this month.
He displayed a document which he claimed was the result of such an investigation, and then showed it to the justice minister.
"The document covers details of the campaign, including sponsors' and supporters' names, phone numbers, addresses and campaign activity plans," Sun said.
"Furthermore, Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] Youth Department Director Liu Tsan-shu (劉燦樹) was personally investigated and monitored," he said.
After reviewing the document, Chen Ding-nan told the committee that what it detailed was unacceptable.
But he said he could not presume that it was the result of his investigative agents' activities.
Meanwhile, bureau Director-General Yeh Sheng-mao (
Yeh said he knew this was so because the bureau had never asked agents to conduct such operations since he took over the top job three years ago.
"I assure you that we did not do it. I will resign if the accusation is proven to be true," Yeh said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai