The state-affiliated Central News Agency (CNA) yesterday said it has suspended a judiciary reporter while it investigates their alleged involvement in covert operations to surveil politicians and officials.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Yi-chuan (王義川), who was among the allegedly targeted politicians, yesterday accused Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) of being the mastermind behind the surveillance.
He vowed to file a lawsuit against Huang for infringing on privacy rights and related legal contraventions.
Photo: Taipei Times
DPP legislators Hsu Chih-chieh (許志傑) and Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) called the case “Taiwan’s Watergate,” drawing parallels with the 1970s US scandal in which government officials hired operatives to undertake secretive and unlawful actions to “find dirt” on political opponents.
CNA president Hu Wan-ling (胡婉玲) told reporters that she convened meetings in recent days and has launched an internal probe, after reports said that the reporter at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office had been involved in Huang’s alleged covert operations to surveil, track daily activities, and take photos of DPP legislators and government officials.
“In reports by Mirror Daily News and other media outlets, it is said that a reporter working at state-affiliated media, who is also chairperson of the Taipei Judiciary Journalist Association and works for the CNA covering events at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, was involved in surveillance of politicians,” CNA said in a news release.
“In our internal meeting, it was decided to immediately suspend the reporter in question and transfer them to another unit. At the same time, we have formed a task force to initiate an internal probe into the case to verify if the mentioned reporter has violated news work ethics and code of conduct,” it said.
Wang Yi-chuan said he filed a judicial complaint last year after finding that he was being followed.
The court filing said that people working for Taipei-based Kai Ssu International Co rented cars and camera equipment to surveil him for nine days in June last year.
Earlier this week, Wang Yi-chuan said several people in the surveillance operation were affiliated with the TPP and had direct links to Huang, including a woman named Lee Yu-chin (李郁衿), who had worked in his election campaign, and Chang Chin-yuan (張晉源), a key figure at Kai Ssu International who cofounded the Taiwan Anti-corruption and Whistleblower Protection Association.
Chinese-language media yesterday reported that the surveillance team consisted of up to seven people, mainly journalists and photographers, and the alleged CNA reporter coordinated with Huang to issue instructions.
DPP legislators said that other pan-green camp figures had been secretly surveilled in recent years, including Control Yuan members deemed close to the green camp, as well as former minister of economic affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝), former minister of health and welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑), and former DPP spokesman Cho Kuan-ting (卓冠廷).
The Association of Taiwan Journalists in a statement criticized the alleged actions.
“We demand Taiwan’s politicians to stop using fake news and media exposure to engage in political struggles, and infringing on privacy rights,” it said.
“If any media workers come under undue pressure, feel threatened, or are enticed by money from politicians to do a job, they can make a complaint to our association, and we shall protect the rights of all media workers, defend media freedom, and seek support from international journalist groups,” the statement said.
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