National Security Bureau (NSB) chief Shi Hwei-yow (許惠祐) said yesterday that national security officials had not illegally monitored the opposition parties.
"Illegal monitoring violates criminal law and can lead to a maximum of five years in prison. I do not believe a government official would take such a risk," Shi told reporters at the legislature yesterday.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of misusing the nation's security resources to secure intelligence about a secret meeting between KMT vice presidential candidate Vincent Siew (
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Shi said the accusations were groundless.
Siew allegedly warned Burghardt that the DPP was planning to destabilize the elections.
The meeting was not known about until last Friday when DPP Legislator Sandy Yen (莊和子) told local reporters that Siew and Burghardt had met for an hour on Dec. 8.
Chief of the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau, Yeh Sheng-mao (
He told reporters at the legislature that his bureau did not illegally monitor opposition parties or their politicians.
He said the bureau only conducts monitoring related to criminal investigations and in cases were permission was granted by a judge.
Despite the NSB's denial, the pan-blue camp continued with the accusations. When approached by reporters, KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (
"Only the government authorities could conduct large-scale wiretapping using high-tech equipment," she said.
Calling the leak an example of "green terror," Hung said she felt horrified by the leak.
KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (
"It is a setback for democracy if [the government] did resort to wiretapping, stalking and manipulation of the opposition," he said.
When asked for comment, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), a KMT member, said it was "possible" that the nation's intelligence agencies had resorted to phone tapping the KMT.
"We cannot say for sure because we are unable to identify the specific process [of the tapping], but wiretapping is really abused in Taiwan," Wang said. "If the accusation proves to be true, this would be a serious political incident."
Meanwhile, Ma's campaign office dismissed media speculation that the leak was an inside job.
"Leaks of internal documents have occurred before and we still do not know how ... we will continue to enhance our information security," spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
"You know, I personally have never done such a thing [eavesdropping]," he said.
Meanwhile, Chang was evasive about whether the administration would take legal action against the KMT in order to reclaim its stolen assets. He emphasized that the related government agencies were planning to take the necessary steps to deal with the matter, saying that he expected them to formulate an appropriate plan.
Chang said the DPP had encountered many difficulties regarding the recovery of the KMT's stolen assets, including several failed attempts to enact a law forcing the KMT to return its improperly acquired party assets to the nation's treasury.
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS