Allegations that legislative aides have helped intelligence agencies keep tabs on their bosses as part of a political-surveillance operation set off a ferocious outcry in the legislature yesterday.
According to TSU Legislator Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘), at least 56 legislative assistants are helping collect information about lawmakers of all stripes for the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau.
He pressed the ministry to put an immediate end to such practices, saying that the bureau has become a self-appointed "political police."
Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
"I was tipped off that at least 56 legislative aides have been acting as informants for the Investigation Bureau," Chen Chien-ming said during a question-and-answer session in the legislature.
"Their main responsibility is to keep the bureau posted of their bosses' conduct for monthly rewards of NT$20,000 to NT$30,000. Some legislative clerks and reporters also double as informants, and even heavyweight DPP lawmakers are not spared from the watch list," he said.
The TSU lawmaker said 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.
"I'm not inventing stories," the lawmaker said. "The ministry must halt such operations right away. The bureau has no right to spy on innocent government officials, politicians or private citizens."
In response, the justice minister said that the practice of planting informants is necessary to safeguard national security, but he agreed it should not be used on lawmakers.
"I will put a stop to the operation if the allegations prove to be true," the minister said, insisting that under the DPP administration, the bureau is no longer asked to engage in political surveillance.
The KMT government reportedly kept secret files on political foes, leading industrialists and activists from various groups. Critics say bureau agents continue such practices despite the transfer of power.
Later yesterday, Investigation Bureau Director Yeh Sheng-mao (葉盛茂) stressed that his agency has never authorized any operation to spy on lawmakers or solicited legislative aides to work for it.
Earlier, bureau officials had said the An-keng unit is devoted to improving ties with the lawmaking body.
Unconvinced, several legislators had their offices checked for wire-tapping devices but none were found.
Such spying allegations, however, are nothing new.
Legislative records show that DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) asked Premier Yu Shyi-kun last April if the Investigation Bureau had planted agents in the legislature in the guise of aides.
Chen Chien-ming said that Chiu came under pressure from the Cabinet and DPP headquarters after questioning Yu and had to drop the issue.
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