Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) is facing allegations of operating a “paparazzi” group to surveil his political adversaries.
The accusations stem from a lawsuit filed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Yi-chuan (王義川) after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) in June last year publicly released a video showing Wang’s car making an illegal left turn.
Wang said he suspected the video was recorded by paparazzi.
After months of investigation, prosecutors said the people who shot the video were staff members of Kai Ssu International Co, a company with no known news publication.
The investigation found that one of the four people who followed Wang was a former aide of Huang. It also said that Kai Ssu International had invested in a TPP-friendly polling company and a media outlet headed by a man who cofounded the Anti-Corruption and Whistleblower Protection Association (TAWPA) with Huang.
The Chinese-language Mirror Media on Sept. 26 alleged that Huang had established the paparazzi group in 2021, led by Hsieh Hsing-en (謝幸恩) of the state-run Central News Agency (CNA). It said that Hsieh used a pseudonym and forwarded photographs or content made by the paparazzi group to other media outlets, including RW News (菱傳媒), and to politicians and media with close ties to Huang.
Huang allegedly directed the activities of the paparazzi group, which targeted mostly DPP members, but also a few of his allies. Content provided by the group led to the false accusations by Hsu in 2022 against then-DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and by KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) against Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Meng-an (潘孟安). The latter is appealing a ruling that found her guilty of defamation.
Hsieh on Monday last week resigned from CNA, which has filed a criminal complaint against her for breach of trust and damage to its reputation. She has denied the charges and insisted she is upholding “freedom of the press.”
RW News on Tuesday last week ceased operations.
The media is referred to as the “fourth estate” in a democracy, because it provides checks and balances on the three branches of government — legislative, executive and judicial — by informing the public and holding the government accountable.
If the accusations about Huang are true, then that would mean that the leader of Taiwan’s third-largest political party has abused his power to use the press to surveil and intimidate his political adversaries and allies alike.
Huang’s alleged actions go beyond the definitions of a “whistle-blower” in the Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act (公益揭弊者保護法), which he had vigorously promoted and took effect this year. If true, his actions have overstepped the boundaries of political ethics and could be illegal.
If the TPP and the KMT — which has said that the allegations against Huang would not affect the two parties’ cooperation — prioritize party or personal gains over democratic values, they might lose people’s trust in their capability to protect the public interest.
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